Dystopian Prep
by D3T3RM1N3D
Summary: Dystopian Prep is an odd school, it's, uh, kind of self explanatory. What happens when an odd school is forced to accept some odd students? Well don't expect me to tell you now, that would be a spoiler.
1. Be Brave

**Dystopian Prep**

**-Hiya. I've written most of this story (I think) so that I'll be hopefully posting every day. Sorry for my embarrassing typos. ;-; -**

**-WARNING: This story contains strong themes such as suicide and self harm. Consider yourself warned.-**

"Are you sure?" I ask timidly.

"Yeah," Grandma smiles. "Go for it."

We're standing in front of the mirror. I wasn't _born _traditionally, my not-Dad created me in a lab, sort of. He took a sample of the male and female zygote and then modified the genes with wolf dna. He let them combine together and grew my foetus out in an incubator. As a result, I have white wolf ears with black in the middle and a white tail with a black tip. I have to hide them, _everywhere. _My not-Dad was arrested and eventually shot by the police when he refused to put down his weapons. I hate him. I hate him with every inch of me, from my freak ears to my bushy tail, I hate him. My Mum raised me for years, she's Japanese, moved to London to be with my not-Dad and embraced the culture. My life is a mixture of roast beef and sushi, hoodies and kimonos, fairies and kappas, idiots and bakas, but most of all: anime. My Mum had me drawing in the art style before school could have any influence. Japanese was my first language, I can sort of remember back in that awful lab place, at least enough to remember that my Mum was left alone with me to influence me while my not-Dad went out and had all the fun. An ookami no shoujo, that's what I am. Not a neko, not a kitsune, but an ookami no shoujo. She told me I'd fit in with all the anime characters she showed me, that I'm just in the wrong world. Grandma took me in when she died of sepsis. Grandma supported me when Mum died, she wept with me at her own daughter's funeral and kept up the Japanese culture to the best of her abilities. She knows a certain extent of Japanese, she's Scottish and married into a Japanese family where she grew old in the unique little country and had a child with her husband, hence my Mum. She moved to London when she heard about my Mum's illness, it started with fever, then she wouldn't stop vomiting. Soon the doctors gave her the diagnosis and my world stopped turning. 'Be brave,' she used to tell me, 'be strong and fearless.' I can't disappoint her today.

"O-okay," I swallow.

The other day, monsters broke out of the underground. No one even remembered their existence, but there's enough evidence to put together what happened. Today marks the day that they roam freely through the world, and undoubtedly my dodgy public school. I always pinned my tail up to my back and wore a hood over my ears, but today Grandma wants me to reveal myself to everyone. After all, today _is _the day freaks like me are accepted, right? I'm going into my fifth year at the school, that means... uh...

so my school isn't exactly ordinary. It's located in a mansion in the middle of nowhere, you spend your first four years doing normal subjects and then you can choose to continue some in your spare time. Lessons are dedicated to training. You see, when my Grandma signed me up for a school, she picked the most anime one she could find. So she picked Dystopian Prep. Apparently, the fifth year onwards is full of training to battle, hide and survive. That's like the school motto: _we strive to survive. _It's pretty corny so it's coined the term _stay alive _or sometimes just _don't die. _Part of me just wishes to be normal- a normal human girl in a normal human school. I suppose the ears are a conversation starter.

"Good," she runs a calm hand through my hair. "Don't listen to what negative junk those _bakas _have to say," she begins to sing something softly. "_I'm tired of trying to be normal, I'm always overthinking, I'm driving myself crazy-" _

"Uh Gran?" I ask, remembering the vast number of swear words in that song. "Since when did you listen to Bebe Rexha?"

She puts a mischievous finger to her lips and I'm reminded again what a cool Grandma I have. I smile and pick up a black suitcase. I'm wearing a black and white striped shirt underneath a grey hoodie and just some blue jeans. I have some hiking boots on with the laces pulled tight. My hair sits in a black plait on my shoulder.

"Knock 'em dead!" She calls out to me as I leave the house.

"Hai sensei," I smile painfully and give her a keirei bow.

The door shuts and I begin the journey to school. I walk around to the hidden bridge over a stream in the greenery next to the shop by our house and walk over it. The long, thin pathway is occupied only by a woman walking her little dog. She looks at me like she's seen a ghost but forces a smile. That's odd, why- oh, right. My ears. I keep going and step across the road onto the bike path. I walk down it, reaching the park behind the school. I come in through the back gate and enter the school courtyard. The six or so hours that follow are going to be hell to endure. I perch on the edge of a bench and stare at my shoes to avoid the gazed of whispering teens. My cheeks burn.

"Uh, hey," a girl approaches me from her group of gossiping friends. "Are those real? How come you have ears now?"

I pause, not used to being spoken to, and speak in a quiet voice.

"Everyone has secrets, not everyone is good at keeping them hidden."

"Riiiiiight," she goes back to her group of friends.

I've always been an outcast, the smart and shy one in a world of inappropriate teens. I do well in most subjects, but I'm really passionate about English. It's so fascinating, there are so many words. My English teacher is nice I suppose, she's always kind to me. I find myself accidentally using the odd Japanese word in replace of something with no English translation. She puts up with it. I'm naturally quick and athletic due to the nature of my genes, but I get so stressed in PE trying to conceal myself and limit my abilities that I always end up screwing everything up. A breeze tickles my face, it's nice in the summer heat.

"I know!" I hear a passing conversation. "And did you _see _that yellow one with the tail? Like, the hell are you?"

There's laughter. I suppose they're talking about the monsters joining the school.

"And that girl, you know, the shy one-"

"I know!" The other voice giggles. "I think I'd _kill _myself if I had ears and a tail, like get lost freak!"

I stare at the concrete, my cheeks burning.

"They're only jealous," a voice from somewhere behind me says dreamily.

"Oh-" I jump slightly. "Hi."

"Hello."

Wynn sits down on the bench next to me. I wouldn't say he's my friend, but he'll sit with me at lunch or partner with me in science when the time comes. He's alright.

"I think they're cool," he shrugs, nodding towards my ears. "Suits your culture, kind of anime, you know?"

"Y-yeah," I nod.

"Have you been hiding them for your entire life?" He asks.

I blush and he looks up at the clouds.

"I didn't know that."

"I didn't tell you," I shrug.

We sit in silence until the bell rings. I don't bother looking at my schedule; we have the first day to set up. I walk quickly to beat the rush and walk into the ancient school. It's less of a school and more of a manor, I approach the grand hall and scale the large spiral staircase leading upwards. I drag my suitcase up with me and squint through the sunlight coming in from the stained glass ceiling. I don't stop at the first year floor, nor the second, I keep climbing until I get to the fifth year hall. I've never seen it before. It's pretty cool, not that different from the forth year floor but still easy to get lost in. A teacher hands me a sheet of paper nervously. That'll be the ears. I inspect it, it's a map of the floor with the dorm rooms already decided. I hold my breath at the sight of the ten girl room, there's only about seventeen girls in the year and the other six are always in a room together. I've been in both rooms before. Luckily, my name isn't on the list of popular girls in their massive dorm. I spot my name amongst some girls I've never heard of before.


	2. Yael

I follow the map, the popular kids are in the big room in the main hall, probably the easiest room to find, and some other smaller rooms including the six girl room and many boys rooms surround it. A couple of rooms seem to be amongst a network of corridors, like a maze. It must be a nightmare trying to find your way around there. I'm thankful that my name isn't in one of those rooms. Wynn is however and he waves me goodbye before trekking through the tangle of rooms. I keep following the map. A long corridor leaves me feeling uneasy as I walk down it. My footsteps echo and a long window lines one of the walls. Huh, that's odd, my room should be in the middle of this corridor. There's only a hatch in the ceili-aaand I think I know where it is. I jump up and twist the little handle of the trapdoor. It opens and sure enough, there's a ladder up there. I pull it down and it latches nicely onto the wall behind it. I climb up, heaving my suitcase, and look around at the room above. It's small in shape but very tall. A big circular window sits at the end of a gap in the wall. I know where this is: I'm in the centre feature of the manor. If you're standing in front of the doors of the school, you can see a big rectangular mansion with triangular roofs. It has a cylindrical shape in the middle above the doors coming out of it with a big circle window. I guess I lucked out this year. Four beds line the walls of the circular room, about two metres off of the ground, and a few ladders sit on the walls in between them. I pick the bed underneath the window, right in the centre of the school, and settle down on it. It's relatively comfy I suppose, not that I was expecting much. Four desks with chairs are dotted around underneath the beds, bookshelves lined with dust accompany them. A filing cabinet sits in the middle at the back of the room. I peek inside. Stacks of plain, lined and squared paper fill the spaces. I smile. I'm going to enjoy this room. I wonder who the other girls could be, Frisk, Alphys and Undyne. I like those names, they're unusual and cool. My not-Dad chose my name so it's my job to hate it.

_Yael_.

It sounds so misleading and edgy.

_Yael. _

It has a blade to it.

_Yael_.

Like someone who'll stab you in the back.

_Yael_.

Like someone who'll run their dead Grandad's camping knife over their wrists when everyone goes up to bed.

_Yael_.

Maybe one of those is accurate.

_Yael_.

Maybe someone should stop over-analysing their own name.


	3. Demon Bedsheets

I unzip my suitcase and look at the neat piles of clothes my Grandma helped me to fold. I pull out a bedsheet, pillow case and the duvet case as well. The pillow and duvet sit miserably on my bed, I struggle around for a bit and eventually manage to get the stupid things onto the bed appliances. I sigh with relief, my ears drooping slightly, and begin to stand up. My tail gets caught on the button of my pillow case and I slip. I grab hold of the mattress and fumble frantically until I'm lying in a tied-up heap on the bed. Just as I find myself tangled beyond return, the trapdoor creaks open.

"Hiya punk!" A scaly girl with blood red hair hauls herself up with all her luggage. "You, uh, you need some help?"

I nod reluctantly and she untangles me from the demon bed. I hiss at the snare of sheets and crawl over to perch on the end.

"Are you from the underground as well?" She asks.

I shake my head.

"But you're, you know," she indicates to my ears.

"Ookami no shoujo?" I ask in a practically whisper of a voice.

"I was gonna say not racist," she grins. "But that sounds cool as heck! Like, anime cool!"

"You watch anime?" My ears prick up.

"Hell yeah!" She beams. "You're like one of those neko girls, or kitsune, but like, a she-wolf instead!"

I flush and try to smile back.

"Hold up," she pulls out her phone. "I gotta get Alphys."

It dials for a few seconds and then picks up.

"Hey," she speaks into it. "Where are you babe?" She pauses. "Ok, need help? Alright. Just be quick, you've gotta see this!"

She puts down the phone and a knock on the trapdoor makes us jump.

"Babe?" She asks.

"If you want," a cheeky sounding voice calls up.

"Oh," the fish lady waves. "Hi Frisk."

So Undyne is the fish, Frisk is this one and Alphys is 'babe.' Frisk climbs up the ladder and sits on a bed with her stuff. She appears to be a human girl about my age, though she looks to be a few years younger at heart. She has brown hair and she's wearing a blue and purple striped shirt.

"Hey," she smiles at me.

I wave back and set to unpacking my stuff. I put my clothes in a drawer of my desk and put my laptop case onto the top. I fill the desk with my stationary and notepads, a small little bonsai tree in a pot sits on the back. There's a hook to hang up your dressing gown, but I don't have one so instead I hand up my black Japanese Kimono, the one with colourful peacocks and bonsai leaves embroidered onto it. I hang my coat on the edge of the bed pole and keep the rest of my stuff in my suitcase. I put it in the last bit of space I could consider as my own before climbing back up a ladder to make my bed. Someone comes into the room.

"Hi Alph," Undyne waves.

Alphys is a yellow lizard-esque monster wearing a white lab-coat and glasses. She has a long tail and small little claws. She waves at Undyne.

"H-hi babe."

I suppose they're in a relationship. That's fine, just so long as they're not like all the girls in the year that feel the need to advertise their romance to everyone. When we're finally all set up, we sit on our beds and talk.

"And you're Yael?" Alphys asks me.

I nod.

"So, if you're not from the underground, where are you from?"

My cheeks go red and she realises that she hit a hard topic.

"Y-you don't have to say! I don't mind-"

"It's ok," I take a breath. "I'm the spawn of two genetically modified zygotes, genetically modified with wolf dna that is. I've been hiding my differences for so long, but now that monsters are finally rejoining humanity, what's the point in hiding?"

"That-" Alphys blinks. "That sounds really fascinating. I'm interested in biology, I know one of our friends likes physics and astrology."

"Cool," I cross and uncross my legs. "I like psychology."

Another hour passes and I decide that there's only one thing for it; I should accept the school's abnormalities and check out the training hall.


	4. Haunting

I climb down out of the room and walk to the end of the corridor. It leads to a room with two doorways. I suppose one of them leads to the training hall and the other leads to the maze of dorms and corridors. That reminds me, I should check on Wynn. I prowl through the rooms, all of which look the same, and eventually sniff my way out to Wynn's dorm. I knock gingerly on the door. Wynn answers it gingerly. Well, he answers it completely confidently, I just said gingerly... because he's ginger. See? I'm funny?

"Hello," he says in a thoughtful voice.

He opens the door and steps out. A pair of white pinpricks hover from a distance through the crack of the door, it shuts and they're closed out from me. I wonder what they are. Oh well. We make our way through the maze, exploring broom cupboards and finding little hiding places. We both decide that the space behind the tapestry in the drying room is the best. We step back into the hallway when a blood-curdling scream echoes across the floor. We sprint out of the door towards the sound. We're in the main hall, whipping our heads left and right, when the entirety of the popular girls' room comes stampeding out.

"What is it?" Wynn asks one of them.

"It- it's huge- and-" she pants. "Awful it's-"

"What is it?" He asks again.

"SPIDER!" Another one screams.

Wynn and I facepalm and turn around to leave. We head back down the corridor and towards the training hall. The darkness makes it hard to see two feet in front of us and I pick up a glowing decorative lantern from the wall. Wynn takes out his phone and turns on the flashlight. We travel the long confusing distance to the training hall and creak open the door. It's too dark to make all of it out, but from what I can tell, one side is covered in arenas and punching bags while the other is a sports court. A sign reads '_changing rooms.' _We peak into the boys room first. Recently bleached toilets sit by the doors and a room covered in benches and pegs looks dully back at us. We leave quickly and wander into the girls changing room. The same toilets and pegs lie around, puddles and a wet floor sign occupying the space, and two mirrors hang on the wall. I look into one. It's too grimy to see anything. I wipe the glass with my sleeve and freeze up.

"What?" Wynn asks. "What do you see?"

A purple ghost with a skirt and polo shirt sits girlishly on the bench in the mirror behind me. She's fiddling with her pigtails. She waves at me, wiggling her fingers, and I turn around. There she is, sitting on the bench, winking at me.

"Don't mind me," she giggles.

I turn to Wynn in shock and he looks confused.

"What?"

"Can you- can't you see her?" I stutter.

"What are you talking about?"

I purse my lips together and pull my hood up onto my head.

"Nothing."

We exit the room and go our separate ways back to our dorms.

"Hi," Undyne frowns at me. "Are you ill? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Heh..." I chuckle slightly psychopathically.

"Alphys what's wrong with her?"

"I'm fine," I snap out of it. "Just tired."

"Hm..." she narrows her eyes at me and shrugs. "If you say so."


	5. Organised Madness

I kick off my shoes, peel off my clothes and put my kimono on over my underwear. I climb up onto my bed but the sheets look like they're going to try and strangle me again. I pick up a pillow and a blanket and climb up the wall. I sit in the circular gap where the window is and lie down, wrapping myself up with the blanket. I stare out of the window and the stars lull me to sleep.

_Restless. _

_Wake. _

_Discomfort. _

_Restless. _

_Get. _

_Up. _

_Restless. _

_Restless. _

_Restless. _

_Insomnia. _

_Insanity. _

_Whirling. _

_Screaming. _

_Madness. _

_Descent. _

_Restless. _

_Whispering. _

_Muttering. _

_Talking. _

_Shouting. _

_Screaming. _

_Screaming. _

_Screaming. _

_Won't. _

_Stop. _

_Screaming. _

_Restless. _

"_Argh-" _

I wake up with a start and bump my head on the brick of the windowsill. I groan and look at the clock on my phone. _5:43. _We're supposed to get up at 6:30. I feel so numb and empty. I sigh tiredly. I didn't want to do this, but what choice do I have? Tsk, first day and I'm already here. I slip down the ladder and clasp the cold pocket knife from my suitcase. I pause, just to check that everyone's sound asleep, and open a cut on my wrist. I scar the space in between a couple old healing cuts and dodge a vein. I turn my wrist over and sink the knife into the back of my arm. It's always easier on the back. I use the motion that I'm so used to, digging in the blade and bringing it slowly backwards until a cut opens up. I finish up as the clock turns 6:00 and put the knife away. I wipe off the blood that drips down my arm with a tissue and get back into bed. I sleep for the last thirty minutes before Frisk wakes me up. I open my drawer and pull out a black shirt and hoodie with some jeans. I pull them on and flip the hood up, tucking my tail in. I can't be bothered to 'brave strong and fearless' today. I brush my hair and my teeth. All four of us leave the room together and we lock the trapdoor behind us. We go to the breakfast hall on the fifth floor and pick up something to eat. I don't have much of an appetite and so I drink water to make up for it.

"And then he literally jumped out the window," Undyne says, taking a mouthful of fruit. "What was it he said?"

"That he had to go to the bathroom," Frisk reminds her.

"Oh yeah. You should meet Paps some time."

"Sounds good," I nod.

"Though you ought to be careful," she goes on. "If you run into Sans, you'll have to listen to his awful jokes."

"Yeah, you wouldn't want-" Frisk starts but she's cut off by the bell. "What first?" Alphys asks.

"Girls introduction to training," Undyne reads off of the schedule on a screen hanging off of the wall. "It's in that gym room off of the training hall."

We stand up and make our way down there.


	6. Chaotic Neutral

"Sit down," bellows a small lady with red hair. "And if I hear one more word about the cold then you're all going outside, see how you like the weather out there eh?"

We sit in rows on the icy cold floor with our backs to the mirror wall.

"Right," she rubs her hands together. "So, as you can see, you girls are something of a minority in this year. No matter, girls can fight too. You see," she strolls across the room. "When you signed up for this school, you were signing up for work, hard work, sweat, dirt and blood, and that's what you'll be dealing with." She nods to a few of the popular kids. "I know a few of you will have to learn that girls aren't just for sitting still and looking pretty Miss Uniem," she glares at a distracted Tabitha Uniem who blushes and mutters under her breath. "Be prepared to get your hands dirty. Now, I think we have avoided the subject long enough. As you are aware, we have some new students. Obviously, they aren't like you or I, but that gives you no right to patronise them about it. Frankly, please refrain from being racist."

Alphys sweats nervously and Undyne grins.

"As well as our new monster additions to the school, we have a human who will gladly contribute to the female side of the school. You may have also noticed monster features on a member of our year, the same goes for them. We're living in a time of acceptance, no one should have any fear of coming out of the dark."

A couple of people glance my way and I stare at the floor.

"Now that's over with, let's talk about how this school works. You will each get a nickname determined by how you perform. We do this to conceal our identities and keep our privacy from other schools. We ask you to respect our rules and avoid punishment. Don't wander the halls at night, it worked for Harry Potter but it won't work for you."

Undyne and Alphys look pretty clueless about the reference.

"Don't fight when we don't want you to fight, practise is fine but we're not going to be eager to break up a fist-fight in the halls. Each of you will have your own weapon, this year, we have a surprise regarding them. Don't gossip about it please," she frowns at the whispers going around. "It does my head in." She looks up and her expression lifts slightly. "This year's going to be a good one, I'm sure. I'm Miss Uraganogukam."

Everyone blinks at her long last name.

"I know," she lowers her eyebrows. "Imagine all the misspelt Christmas cards I get."

She leaves us to chat -or _get to know each other _as she put it- among ourselves for the rest of the 'lesson' and Alphys turns to me.

"Are all schools like this?"

I shake my head.

"What class have we got next?"

"Undyne, Alphys and Metta have disguise, looks like the skelebros have alibis and I've got agility with Yael."

"Metta?" I ask.

"Mettaton," Undyne explains. "A robot with strong leg game."

"Right..."

I wave them off and Frisk pulls out her map.

"Just one of those rooms off of the hall," she indicates ahead of us.

We walk through the hall and into the agility room. Everyone has to take a moment just to process the place.


	7. Agility

We're standing on a strip of floor on the edge of a sea of that sponge you see gymnasts land in. Thin beams, planks, ladders and nets are weaved around above the drop.

"Let's get straight into this then shall we?" A man announces, making us jump. "I'm Mr Idimor, nice to meet you."

I spot Wynn across the room and we share a glance.

"For our first lesson, I would like you all to simply follow me."

He pulls himself onto the apparatus and beckons us over. There's only about twelve of us and we follow him one by one. He proceeds along the beams, balancing on his toes. We take careful steps and soon enough, a girl shrieks and tumbles off. I look down. Oh, never mind, it was a boy. He lands in the sponge and Mr Idimor tells him to wait for everyone. We follow him around. More and more people fall off.

"Argh-!" Frisk teeters and almost falls. "How do you do it?"

"I have a tail for balance," I shrug.

"You have to find your centre of gravity," Wynn explains dreamily. "It's like, like a gold gem amongst brown organs, like a silver needle in a moonlit haystack, like-"

Frisk yelps and slips off. She lands in the sponge and sticks her tongue out at us. Only Wynn, two boys- _one _boy and I left. The boy that fell down yells out to his friend as he kicks in an attempt to stay surfaced.

"GOSH DARNIT ALEX!"

The foretold Alex sniggers and Mr Idimor rolls his eyes. We climb up ladders and hop onto beams. My tail helps me greatly, Alex is just too stubborn to fall and it looks like Wynn is in his own little world.

"Now would be a good time to fall," Alex snarls at me.

"Don't get so cocky," Mr Idimor warns him.

He flushes and growls. We all begin to climb a rope ladder. A few people down below are cheering. I can hear Frisk screaming her support and curses to Alex. I grin and Alex begins to get more and more frustrated. He starts shaking the ladder. I clutch on, Wynn seems completely unaffected by the motion but it throws me off. My fingers begin to slip and I wrap my legs around the ladder. He gives it one more tug and I lose my grip. I let out a small hiss and brace my body for the landing. The sponge is soft and breaks the fall. I half swim and half crawl to the edge and Frisk helps me up. She cheers for Wynn and I watch. Mr Idimor jogs along a beam. Wynn follows him with perfect footing. Alex stumbles and curses. He clings on for dear life but soon enough, he plummets into the sponge pit below. Mr Idimor takes Wynn back to the bottom and pats him on the back.

"In this class, you will learn to get around quickly. You must be as light and fast as an Autumn leaf caught in a breeze."

He spends the rest of the lesson teaching us how to find our centre of gravity. When the lesson ends, we head out for break. I go up to the dorm with Frisk, waving Wynn goodbye, and I spot a pink metal robot standing bellow the ladder.

"Yes darling," he calls up. "Yes I completely understand."

"Hi Mettaton!" Frisk grins.

"Frisk!" Mettaton gives her a hug. "Darling it's been so long. Go on, show me those legs."

Frisk poses dramatically, much to Mettaton's approval.

"And you must be Yael," he turns to me.

I nod and stare at the ground as he looks me over.

"You don't look much like a human."

"Oh," I flush. "I'm not really, I'm more of an experiment, I've just hidden it all my life."

"Must be tricky," he empathises with me. "Well, you look fabulous darling!"

I thank him and wave him off as he leaves. Frisk and I climb the ladder, hauling ourselves up into the room with Alphys.

"Hi," she nods.

"Where's Undyne?" Frisk asks.

"She's with Papyrus," Alphys shrugs. "Sans is probably sniffing out the school for ketchup."

They turn to me, taking in my confused face.

"Sans and Papyrus are the skelebros."

"Oh," I remember. "Right."

"When did you meet Wynn?" Frisk asks me. "He's nice."

"He's gone to this school for a while," I ponder. "We have a sort of mutually assured respect for each other. He's just one of the only normal people who isn't a jerk."

"Fair enough," Frisk leans back.

We relax for a little until the time for our next lesson comes.

"Frisk, you've got survival with me, I think Sans has dodging and Yael has concealment with Mettaton, Papy and Undyne."

I nod and take out my map. It looks like concealment is in a room outside of the manor.


	8. Concealment

I follow the route to a set of stairs leading downwards. They go on for ages so I slide down the banister. It leads outside of the school and onto the grass. I walk along the path to a small cottage on the edge of the forest. I never knew what it was for, I always nicknamed it the Hagrid House, after the one in Harry Potter. I walk in through a door on the side and sit down with the small group of students. We wait for the last few people and then a lady with a foreign accent steps out.

"Greetings students, I am Miss Kusuka, please listen carefully so not to make a fool of yourself. Concealment is an understatement, this class'll have you able to live in someone's house for a month without them suspecting a thing by the end of the year. Do not attempt to use your skills in order to wander the halls at night, here at Dystopian Prep, we know all the tricks. In today's lesson, we will be attempting a simple exercise. First, get into partners."

Undyne walks over to me and I see Mettaton pairing up with a tall skeleton wearing a red scarf.

"Label yourselves A and B."

"I'll be B!" Undyne whispers. "It stands for boulder! Something which I love to suplex!"

"Now," Miss Kusuka's eyes twinkle. "A's get into pairs amongst yourselves and B's do the same."

"But-" a few people protest.

"Don't argue," she frowns.

Undyne and Mettaton reluctantly go together and the tall skeleton bounds over to me.

"These are your pairs for today. Follow me."

She begins to walk and we follow her down a staircase and into a room with many doorways.

"In each room is three cupboards," she explains. "Your partner will hide in one of them and you'll get one chance to guess which one. I'm looking for you to listen out for their breathing and bodily sounds. Ready?"

Everyone nods.

"_Quietly _find a room."

The skeleton takes me into one of the rooms.

"HELLO!" He exclaims. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! THIS MIGHT BE DIFFICULT FOR YOU AS I DON'T HAVE A BODY!"

I can't help but smile.

"YOU CAN HIDE FIRST!"

He skips out of the room and I pick the cupboard on the far right. I slip inside of it and press my ears against my head to stop them from twitching. I hold my tail and stroke it for reassurance. The sound of footsteps makes my blood run cold, even though it's just Papyrus.

"HM," I hear him pondering.

I hold my breath and let go of my tail. It swishes silently through the air, brushing quietly against the wall to the left of me.

"OHO!" He declares.

He pulls open a cupboard door. It's the one next to mine. I sigh with relief and open my door.

"I WAS EXTREMELY CLOSE," he announces. "BUT ALAS, TO NO AVAIL."

I step out of the room and wait until I hear the sound of shutting doors. I walk in and ponder about how I'm going to figure this out. He doesn't need to breathe or yawn or anything like that. A smile tugs its way onto my lips as I get my answer. One cupboard is emitting little 'nyeh heh heh's of concentration. I give it a tug and it swings open.

"NICE ONE!" He congratulates me. "NYOO HOO HOO! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL SUCCEED NEXT TIME! NYEH HEH HEH!"

The rest of the lesson is full of nothing but dusty cupboards and energetic skeletons. I like Papyrus, he's adorable.


	9. A Séance

The rest of the day leaves me worn down and tired, but there's still one thing on my mind. I slip on my kimono over some jeans and a shirt, grab my phone for light and set off down the hallway. Technically it's not bedtime just yet. I make my way back to the girls changing room and peak in. I walk over to the mirror. No sign of the ghost. She isn't sitting on the bench either.

"Please come out," I whisper under my breath.

There's a small creaking.

"Hello?" I ask shyly.

"Hello," I female voice smiles back.

I look up at the source of the voice and spot that ghost girl watching me from the vent. She comes out and sits on the end of the bench.

"So I didn't imagine it..." I mutter.

"Nope," she smiles. "I'm real all right. I'm Kassandra."

"I'm Yael," I blush. "Why can't Wynn see you?"

"Is that who your friend was?" She asks. "He's a boy, only girls can see me."

"Oh," I nod. "Ok."

"I don't usually talk to the girls," she leans back. "I just watch them. But I like you. The other girls reek of fear, but you don't have fear."

"How long have you been here?" I ask.

"Years and years and years and years andyearsandyearsandyears," she speaks quickly. "I've been haunting the girls changing room for aaaaages."

She has two blonde pigtails and she wears a shirt with a skirt. She has a faint purple glow and looks younger than me.

"Ever since I died."

"How did you die?"

"Look around you," she smiles a menacing smile. "This school is a maze of danger. I was just a fifth year."

I nod and sit down next to her.

"You look hardly as phased as people usually do," she observes.

"Usually?"

"Well I talk to _some _people, they're all just so boring. You look very interesting."

"Thanks," I smile. "Well, I'm not much of a person."

"You look like an anime character," she states.

"This school's much further on the anime scale than I am," I argue.

"I like you," she tells me again. "Will you come here again?"

"I'll try," I nod. "How do I know where you are?"

"I'll usually be here, but you can summon me with a séance."

"How do I do that?" I ask.

"I'll teach you," she grins. "So, you can do it on your own if you want, it works better with other people but I think you're strong enough to do it solo!" She directs me to stand in the middle of the room. "So, if you're in a group, you stand in a circle, but you can just stand there, shut your eyes and summon me."

"You'll have to be more specific," I chuckle.

"Try repeating the words 'I summon Kassandra' in your head."

I shut my eyes and oblige. At first it feels stupid, but eventually I get the flow of it.

"Try again," she urges me on. "Maybe it'll help if you have a circle," she gets out a piece of white chalk and sketches a circle with four smaller circles marking the corners onto the floor. "There," she hands me the chalk. "Keep this with you."

I spend about an hour trying to summon her and connect with the young ghost.

"That was good," she assures me. "I felt something on the last one, you can practise if you come here in the evenings."

I nod and look at the time on my watch.

"I should get going, the teachers will blow a fuse if they see me."

"It's ok," she smiles mischievously. "I'll go ahead for a minute and unlock some doors, maybe cause a few distractions. You know, clear a path."

I nod and she disappears. She reappears a minute later and indicates for me to walk. I slip out of the changing room and walk through the large hall, hugging to the walls. An open doorway sits in front of me and I walk through it. I'm almost at the dorm corridor when Kassandra's voice whispers in my ear.

"_Hide!" _

I step hastily into the drying room and slip behind the tapestry. The footsteps of a teacher grow louder and then die away.

"Ok, you're safe," she tells me.

I exit the room and make my way back until I'm standing at the dorm ladder. Kassandra waves me goodbye and I wave back. I climb into the room.


	10. Questioning

"There you are!" Undyne hisses. "We thought you died!"

"Oh, uh," I sweat. "Whoops..."

She sighs and I remove my kimono, then my jeans, then I slowly remove my shirt, being careful not to expose my wrist. I climb up to the window in the darkness and sleep in my underwear. An alarm clock goes off and we all wake up. I feel the urge to add to my collection of scars, but I can't fulfil it due to the room full of people. I put on some clean underwear and a black turtleneck shirt underneath a sleeveless grey denim jacket with an illustration of a Japanese Ameonna clutching an umbrella on the back. I put on my jeans from yesterday and brush my teeth. I comb my hair and put on some shoes. We all head down to the breakfast hall and sit at a table.

"It's good to see you with your ears and your tail out," Alphys tells me. "It helps, to be comfortable in your own skin."

"Thanks," I flush.

We all jump as Undyne slams a slip of paper onto the table.

"Got this from the delivery guy," she declares and begins to read in a loud voice. "_Yael to go to the safeguarding office, _well, off you go I guess!"

I stand up and look at my map. The safe whatsitsface office seems to be in amongst several other offices. I'd better find the right one first try. I walk all the way to the huddle of offices. Please let this not be about creeping through the halls.

"Ah, Yael!" A woman calls my name. "I was just popping to the printer, just a second."

The printer does its work at a painfully slow rate but eventually she finishes up and takes me to her office.

"I'm Miss Kubaro, nice to meet you. From what I understand, you're a high achieving student and you excel far beyond others in English, Art and physical education. I know that you are also bilingual as a result of your Asian descent. All it says in your personal notes is silent, reclusive and tendency to wear hoods; I think that one's self explanatory now. I have called you here to ask about the origin of your ears and your tail. It isn't a problem, it's just confusing as to where they came from."

She waits for me to answer.

"It's... a bit personal..." I mutter.

"You don't have to tell me the full extent of it," She reassures me.

"I was born from two genetically modified zygotes, implanted with wolf dna," I explain quietly. "I've always had these, I've just hidden them all my life."

"I see," she nods. "Do you have anyone who can back this up?"

"My Grandma," I blush.

"Ok," She scribbles down some notes and looks up. "Now, if you don't mind, may I see a demonstration on the advantages your, uh, _condition _gives you?"

I nod.

"This will mean that you miss first period," she looks down at a piece of paper. "You're just missing out on some agility, though I believe you are good at that anyway." She stands up. "What can you do with your genes?"

I stand up with her.

"I'm better at physical activity..."

"In what way?"

"I can run fast and for longer," I shrug. "I can lift heavier things. I have good hearing and balance, uh, I think my night vision is a little better than normal peoples'."

"Can you howl like a wolf?" She asks.

"Well, yes, but that's likely because of my Mum and my Grandma having me do it from such a young age."

"Could that make you better at singing?"

"I've never tried."

"Can you play any instruments?"

"Piano..."

The questioning and demonstrating goes on for an hour before she tells me I have survival and releases me.


	11. Survival

I rush to the survival room. It's down some stairs in a dark room flooded with cold air from an open door to the outside.

"Hello," a man says. "I'm Mr Mekoi, I'll be teaching you how to tough it out through cold winters and not fry in the boiling sun."

"We know," a cocky boy mumbles to his friend. "You told us yesterday."

"Maybe," Mr Mekoi lowers his eyebrows. "But not everyone from our class yesterday is here today. That's how classes work, they create a specific schedule that's different every day and suited to what we think you need to practise. Today, these is the people who happened to have survival selected for this particular moment in time, understand?"

The boy nods, then turns back to his friend.

"At least that bony freak isn't here again..."

"I will throw you into the pond if you don't shut up," Mr Mekoi glares.

The boy decides to shut up.

"We will be practising fire-starting in this lesson, in a moment, you will all follow me silently out to the forest and we will begin the lesson. Clear?"

Everyone nods. He opens the door and begins to walk outside. Everyone follows him and we gather around a small clearing amongst the trees.

"I want everyone to get into groups of four and build up a fire. You will then be asked to light it."

People bustle around to get into groups. I stand awkwardly and wait until everyone's in groups. One group only has three people so they indicate for me to join theirs.

"And... go."

The two girls go rushing off to find firewood without a word. I sigh quietly through my teeth and set to finding rocks to make a boundary with. I manage to circle off a clear surface. I kick away the pile of gravel formed from when I cleared the area and I kneel back down to the circle. We need tinder. Just as I'm about to stand up, the boy in our group comes back with some dried leaves and little curls of tree bark.

"It's a good thing that _I_, at least, know something about fires."

I suddenly recognise him as Alex from agility class and it takes every scrap of willpower in my body to keep quiet. He puts the tinder in the middle of the circle when the two girls come back with a series of medium sized sticks and logs. They'd better be dry.

"So, like," one of them says. "What do we even do with these?"

"Jessica," one of them titters. "Do you know _anything?"_

"Do you?" Jessica snorts.

"Well... no."

They both burst into laughter and I try not to throw up.

"It's kindling," Alex scoffs at them. "Obviously, it goes above the tinder."

He takes it and dumps it on top. I arrange it in a neat crisscross pattern while they bicker about who's going to light the fire. I try my best to remember everything about fires from books, my Mum and kickass animes. I arrange the kindling in a sort of teepee around the tinder and use some of the bigger logs- which work as fuel wood- to set up a stack of perpendicular branches. I have it finished on my own by the time that they've flipped a coin and deducted that Alex will light the fire. Eventually, Mr Mekoi comes over and declares that it's time to light them. Alex proudly steps forward to light ours... then his cheeks go red as he realises that he has no idea how to light a fire. I scowl under my breath and help him. I grab a soft piece of wood from the fire and create a groove in it with a stone amongst the gravel. I grab a stick and run it up and down the groove quickly. I saw it in an anime once. Sure enough, the friction and heat begins to set the wood alight. Alex scoops it up in a flash and brings it to the tinder. A flame begins to flicker into existence and he blows softly through the bundle. The flame grows bigger and soon takes over the rest of the wood. He grins, elated with himself, and Mr Mekoi smiles.

"Good job, remember this for next lesson."

He teaches everyone how to successfully make a fire and we make mental notes.


	12. Weird History

We go down to break and I spot Papyrus, well, he's quite hard to miss.

"Hi," I ask him quietly.

"GREETINGS WOLF HUMAN!" He beams. "WHAT DO YOU REQUIRE OF MY MANY SERVICES?"

"Have you seen Frisk or Undyne," I flush. "Or Alphys?"

"I BELIEVE THEY'RE IN THEIR DORMITORY," he ponders. "YES, NYEH HEH HEH, THEY TOLD METTATON TO LET YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, BUT I HAVE BEATEN HIM TO IT!" He puts his hands on his hips and gives a proud "NYEH HEH HEH!"

I smile shyly and walk upstairs to the dorm.

"Hey," Frisk waves. "Wynn was just looking for you."

I nod and head over to Wynn's room. He opens the door before I knock on it.

"Yeah, I will," he finishes his conversation with someone behind him. "See you."

He walks out of the door and shuts it behind him.

"Miss Kubaro talked to you about your wolf genes, yes?" He goes straight into it with no introduction.

"Yeah," I nod.

"Right," He frowns. "Well I was listening to the radio, and there were reports of gangs like the A.M.E holding protests against the monsters."

"And?" I ask.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm on your side," he says.

"Oh," I'm relieved that that's all there is about it. "What does A.M.E stand for?"

"Anti Monster Establishment," he explains. "Just a bunch of racist pricks."

"Glad we can agree on that."

"What class do you have next?"

"Fighting," I read. "Then an assembly."

"I've got the assembly then fighting," he says. "Must be a boy-girl split assembly then."

"This school confuses me," I sigh. "Like, how is it running? They make up our schedules _on the day _for whatever's more convenient, they have students fighting each other yet their priority is nicknames and now they have some sort of surprise regarding weapons?"

"I know," he nods solemnly. "It's like magic."

"Yeah," my mind goes back to Kassandra and I smile slightly.

"I've been reading up on monster history," he tells me. "Humans used to have magic, but it's pretty much extinct. Monsters still have magic, I've seen them use it, but they don't have the sort of determination that we do."

"Wait," my eyes light up. "You've seen monsters do magic?"

"Yeah," He shrugs. "Haven't you? You live in a dorm of monsters as well."

"Oh," I flush. "Right."

The bell goes off and I wave him goodbye. I head into the big training hall.


	13. Fighting

"Sit down, sit down," Miss Uraganogukam barks.

She's accompanied by Mr Idimor. All the girls that have gathered take a seat.

"Today we'll teach you basic martial art skills," she pauses. "That's it, that's literally all we're doing today."

"Let's start with a warm up," Mr Idimor rubs his hands together.

He gets us to do some jogging, then star jumps, then soon enough, we're on the floor with one bent leg to our thigh and one leg straight. We reach as far as we can with our left arm. It hurts and I can only go as far as my ankle, but when we switch sides, I can go all the way down to my toes. We're told to sit with our feet pressed together and try to push our knees down against the floor. A couple other people have trouble getting them down, there's the sound of one girls' jeans splitting, but I can get them flat against the ground no problem. We move on to planks. It hurts so much and my face is red, threatening to blow up right there and then if I don't do anything, but I get through most of the ten seconds in the awful position. They have us doing this horrible routine of plank to push-up, over and over, but scarcely anyone can keep up with their counting. We do some sit-ups, though I can barely do one- I don't know why, I've just never been able to do them- and we're aching before the warm up is over.

"We have a task which we need you to perform _exactly _as we ask you to, so listen up," Miss Uraganogukam instructs us. "Each of you will go up to your dorm and bring back some sports clothes. We need you all to do this _SILENTLY, _if I hear any of you so much as muttering, you'll pay."

We stand up and obey. I bring back a loose grey long-sleeved shirt with flexible kind of material and a pair of tracksuit bottoms.

"Good. In future, you will bring these clothes to fighting class. We will understand if you are slightly late from getting them after a class, but don't use it as an excuse. Go and get changed in the girls changing room. You have five minutes."

We rush quickly off to the changing room and get our clothes on. I've practically mastered the art of getting changed without revealing my wrists so there isn't any drama there. A few of the girls are gossiping exaggeratively about the chalk shape drawn on the floor. Something purple and luminous catches my eye. I spot Kassandra winking at me from the vents. I smile back and leave with Undyne, Alphys and Frisk to the hall. We wait for everyone to be done and Mr Idimor picks up from where Miss UraganogukamMcLongLastName left off.

"Right, first, you want to get into this position."

We copy him.

"That's right, facing that way with that foot in front. Now, with your fist on the same side as your front foot, punch forward and shout 'jab!'"

We all follow his commands. We've practised it for a while before he says

"And now with your other hand, punch forward and shout 'cross!'"

Again, we do as he says.

"When I say switch, jump around and change your position to the opposite direction... switch!"

We jump, making our other side the front one. We practise punching some more. Soon enough, he has us in pairs with one of us wearing blocking gloves and the other punching it. My jab hand punches the opposite glove and likewise with my cross one.

"Cross jab jab!" Undyne declares.

I punch in that order.

"Yeah!" She grins. "Jab jab jab cross jab!"

I follow her commands.

"Woooo!" She roars. "You punch hard! Come on, cross jab cross jab!"

Eventually, Miss Uraganogukam gives the order to switch roles. I put on the gloves and stand in front of Undyne.

"Cross cross jab cross," I tell her.

She punches in the right order. My hand almost hits my head. She's extremely strong.

"Jab cross cross jab."

This time I'm ready for it. I lean into the punch as she hits the gloves. The teachers have us learn how to knee strike, front kick and back kick the gloves by the end.

"Now finally," Miss Uraganogukam declares. "You will all get into three lines- _not yet Miss Sechikka," _She glares at Izzy Sechikka. "And three of you will stand here with these punching block cushions. You will each perform a kick, not like the front and back ones you've been practising, but you must instead push your victim away from you, like this."

She demonstrates with Mr Idimor.

"Now go."

We get into lines and she picks three people to hold a blocking cushion thing. Frisk is one of them. She's in the line to my left with Alphys and I'm in the same one as Undyne. We take it in turns, I do alright- nothing too noticeable- and Undyne's turn comes up. She kicks the girl with the blocker and sends her flying backwards into the wall. She manages to break her fall and shield her head. Undyne rushes over.

"Whoops," she helps the girl up. "Are you ok?"

"Get away freak," the girl hisses.

She rushes off to the side and Undyne stands there, hurt. I take her by the arm.

"Come on," I whisper.

"You're very good," Miss Uraganogukam says to Undyne, making us jump. "So good in fact that I don't think it'll be safe to let others block your hits. I will take up your line's blocker, see if you can push me away."

Undyne grins and finishes the lesson having almost knocked Miss Uraganogukam over, receiving high praise. We get changed and leave to the gym for assembly afterwards.


	14. Kansatsu Sensō

Miss Kubaro is there. I hide a frown. I don't know what it is about her, maybe just how she's trying to 'look out for me.' I dunno, I guess I just don't like being noticed.

"Hello!" She chirps. "My, it's so nice to see all you girls together. Some of you I've met, others are completely new to me! I want you to know that you're all welcome and I hope you enjoy your first survival year! With that in mind," she strolls across the room. "Tomorrow is a special day for all of you! As opposed to lessons, you will be participating in an event known as the 'Kansatsu sensō,' can anyone tell me what it means?"

This question is directed solely at me as 'Kansatsu sensō' is Japanese for 'War of Observation.'

"You there," she points to me and smiles, even though my hand isn't raised.

"War of Observation," I mutter.

"Precisely!" She beams. "It coined that name from one of our previous head students who transferred from a Japanese school. What happens is we split the year into boys and girls, you all go out into a place we like to call the 'Battlefield' which is miles long and wide, covered densely in forest and grass and populated by the odd squirrel or hare. You will have an hour to build up a base and then we will give to you a safe with a flag inside of it. The code to the safe will be a word which you all choose and keep a single record of somewhere. The aim is to travel to your opponents' base, find or get the password out of them, unlock the safe and bring the flag back to your own base. We are well aware that there are lots more boys than girls, but we believe that you could even use that to your advantage. Lots of people to get the code out of, you know? The thing is, the only rules are not to cheat, not to kill anyone and not to cause serious, life-changing bodily harm to each other. We have weapons for you to use that are not real, but instead are holographic and use chemicals to simulate the pain they would've caused."

People share shocked glances around the room.

"There are cameras everywhere and this will determine your nickname and contribute towards your personal weapon, hence the 'of Observation' part. Try to get good sleep tonight and don't be afraid, this is your time to show us what you're made of!" She smiles and asks "any questions?"

No one raises their hands.

"Wonderful! You may all leave early. Goodbye!"

We file out of the room and Frisk whispers

"I knew this school was mental."

"I-is this usual?" Alphys asks me. "For humans to put their fellow species through such pain?"

"Not currently," I think about things like the Holocaust and grimace. "But humans do have a hella messed up history."

"This is like that one movie," Undyne ponders.

"Like an anime?" Alphys asks.

"No, it's... that St Trinians one!" She remembers the name. "Yeah!"

We smirk and drop our sports clothes off in the dorm.

"I've got to go somewhere," I wave. "Bye."


	15. Preparation

I leave and make a beeline for the training hall. I realise that the boys are in there. I frown and step into the drying room. I shut my eyes.

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon Kassandra. _

_I summon-_

"Are you trying to summon me?" Comes a familiar voice.

"Did it work?"

"No," she shrugs. "I just felt a little twinge and went looking for you. I figured you'd be here."

"How do we get to the changing room?"

"We can do it here today if you want," she grins. "We'll just have to be quiet." She pauses. "I suppose they told you about the Kansatsu sensō?"

"This school is nuts," I nod.

"I can give you some advice," she smiles. "You want to name your password something hard to pronounce and even harder to spell, that way, it'll be less likely to be successfully beaten out of someone and passed on. Also, don't betray your team or run away, you'll just get stuck with a lame nickname. Don't summon me, that's probably cheating."

I practise trying to summon her in a séance for an hour, then she spends the rest of the time prepping me.

"And that's how to make a bandage out of a sock. Not that you'll need it, everyone will be too carried away with those harmless weapons to physically harm you."

"Has anyone died in it?" I ask childishly.

"One died, one expelled," she smiles sadly. "A girl, all the stress got to her and out of fear, she betrayed her team, giving away the password. She got her head bashed in with a rock by another girl, one of her teammates."

"Sounds painful," I wince.

She turns around and lifts her ghostly hair up off of her shoulders. There's a gaping hole in the back of her skull.

"It was."

My mouth drops open.

"Don't betray your team," she says bluntly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, she disappears. I try to take it all in. Kassandra, her own fear led her to her death, I feel so bad for her. I leave the room and jog back up to my dorm. I actually get there in time.


	16. Games Begin

"Are you alright?" Alphys asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Heh..." I chuckle without explanation about the overused pun.

They share worried glances.

"Get some rest," Undyne tells me.

I don't argue.

"Come on!" Frisk hisses.

She's shaking me frantically awake.

"Are we late?" Her panic is contagious.

"No," she flushes. "I'm just nervous."

We get ready in a flash, I pull on some jeans, a black and white striped shirt with long sleeves and a plain black hoodie. Frisk puts on the blue and purple striped shirt I first saw her wearing. Come to think of it, everyone else is wearing what I first saw them in. Undyne is wearing a leather jacket over a black tank top and some jeans. Alphys is wearing her lab coat over some black and white polka-dot pyjamas. Even in a situation as potentially life-threatening as this, Alphys still chooses comfort over all else.

"Ready punk?" Undyne ruffles my hair as I brush it.

"Let's beat the hell out of those pathetic boys," I snarl.

I tie my hair into a long black plait, pulling out a couple strands to hide behind, and untuck my tail from my clothes. Today I've got to show those pricks who get to sit with a hot chocolate in front of a screen what I'm made of. They won't know what hit them. We head out to the cafeteria, everyone's eating like it's the end of the world. If you could get drunk off of bacon and eggs, the whole year would be wasted. I sit down with the girls and eat the most depressing slice of toast I've ever eaten. I've never seen the hall this busy; I suppose everyone is keen to stock up on energy before the fight. I wash it down with some water and almost choke on it when a speaker right next to my ear blares into life.

"Hello- h- is this thing on? Rea- oh- hello students of Dystopian Prep!"

Miss Kubaro is beaming optimistically from the stage, clutching a microphone- half bashed in from mike-drop after mike-drop- and she continues in her squeaky voice.

"I'm sure we all know why today is special, I know I do!" She pauses for us to laugh but has to do it awkwardly for us when she gets no response. "You know, I really feel like Effie Trinket right now! Luckily, this is a battle to be observed, not one about murdering children! And so I want to bring forth the reminder that manslaughter is against the rules. Please head out in an orderly fashion down the stairs to the field and line up into boys and girls. We will then direct you to your ends of the battlefield. Happy Kansatsu sensō, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favour!"

She grins, obviously pleased with her Hunger Games reference, and indicates for us to leave. We follow each other down the hallway and towards the exit.

"Come on, calm down, quickly now," Miss Uraganogukam is tiredly directing people down the pathway. "Don't lag behind or you'll have to hear more of Miss Kubaro's insufferable jokes."

A couple people snigger and we hurry up. By some miracle, everyone is in the correct line by about five minutes.

"I'll be leading you girls over there," Miss Uraganogukam says. "Miss Kusuka will come too."

They load us into two minivans and start off down the grass.

"Are you afraid?" Alphys whispers to me.

"Fear is completely different from the thing itself," I growl. "Thus rendering it totally unnecessary."

"R-right," she nods.

We sit in silence for the rest of the journey. The vehicle rolls to a stop and Miss Uraganogukam turns around.

"Ok I know it may seem bad, but trust me, there's no reason to be intimidated. Think of it as capture the flag. Make your den in the trees, set a truckload of booby-traps and for Pete sake don't go naming your password 'sparkle' or 'password' or 'girlsrule' or something predictable like that. Pick some Japanese word from Yael or something. Don't let those fancy weapons scare you, they may hurt like hell, but just remember that they can't do any proper damage to you. Holograms are harmless. Good luck, and _don't die."_

She uses the slang variation of the school motto. I smile; I like that woman. We hop out of the bus one by one and meet up with the other half of our team. We set off down into the woods. The teachers drive off.

"Let's get this den up!" Undyne declares.

We gather a pile of sticks, logs and even a length of rope sitting on the ground that we first thought was a snake. We find a pair of parallel branches and lay all the branches across them. They hold well.

"Urgh!" Tabitha cries out in frustration. "The stupid rope won't cut!"

"Give it here," Frisk scowls.

She rips a piece off of the rope with her teeth and spits onto the ground. She passes it back to her. Tabitha wrinkles her nose in disgust and mutters to her friends. She ties the end of the logs and we build up the walls. Some girls who study textiles in their spare time are dreamily weaving some leaves together into a blanket. They finish up and pass it to us. We drape it over the small den.

"We need more of these," Jessica snaps. "All identical."

We obey her and construct more of the things.

"I'M SLIPPING!" A girl called Erin shrieks. "I'M SLIPPING I'M SLIPPING HELP!"

She clutches the den, having lost hold of the foot-hole she found in the tree.

"Let go!" Undyne calls up and positions herself underneath her.

"Nuh-uh!" Erin glares. "There's no way I'm even TOUCHING a freak like you!"

Without thinking, I hurl a rock up and it crashes into the branch she's holding onto. She screams and falls into Undyne's arms. She catches her and puts her down.

"Whoops," I mutter sarcastically.

No one replies. It just makes me so angry! When these entitled brats think that just because some people look different to them, it means they can treat them like dirt! It pisses me off so much! I release some of my anger by helping to kick a branch off of a tree. It comes loose finally and we hurl it up there. Miss Kusuka drives up to us with a minivan.

"Here's the gear," she tells us. "Enough weapons for all of you."

People rush over and prise open the box. They pull out a safe with a set of instructions as to how to set the code.

"Oh my gosh girls!" Jessica glares. "You're acting like animals! Let's get through this in an orderly fashion. You," she points to me. "What's the code going to be?"

"Odawusap," I whisper.

"Oh speak up."

I begin to repeat it but she thrusts the safe into my hands.

"Knock yourself out, right, ooh! Material!"

The others set to upgrading all the bases with material and rope. I fiddle with the metal box. I set the code and smile at it. Odawusap; Pasuwādo spelt backwards; Japanese for Password.

"What was it?" Undyne asks me.

"Odawusap."

"Odawusap!" Undyne yells up to the girls. "Chant it! Odawusap! Odawuap!"

They chant it as they work. The boys are literally miles away, so we don't even need to worry about that. I hear Alphys discussing the very matter with Frisk.

"Well I know Sans can bend the laws of physics, but I feel like cheating is rather beyond him. He believes in karma."

"Chara?" Frisk's head zips up.

"No, _karma," _Alphys looks like a chill began to run up her spine but hung out somewhere around her ribs. "Who told you that name?"

"Oh-" Frisk's cheeks heat up. "No one..."

I write the code on the paper in the box and leave it folded up into a tiny origami star that fits in the crook of the wall of a den. I run that green tree dust which stains your clothes when you lean on trees or sit on branches onto it to camouflage its ghost white colour.

"Now let's talk weapons!" Jessica announces. "A sword! I think I'll take that... ooh! Guns! Who wants a gun?"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"There aren't any rapid-fire ones but whatever!" She passes out guns to people. "Do you monsters want anything?"

"We got it covered," Undyne pulls out a spear, Frisk pulls out a stick and Alphys pulls out what appears to be a grenade launching mechanism.

"But aren't those real weapons?"

"Miss did a hologram thingy on them!" Frisk pokes herself with the stick, it's holographic but she doesn't go any further.

It must hurt.

"Bow and arrows," she yawns and passes them to an eager girl. "Another gun, a dagger, a spear, two baseball bats, a blow dart gun, a catapult, two more guns, another spear, another baseball bat, an axe," She hands them out. "And a set of throwing knives."

I take the set of knives and fasten it to myself. Finally, a weapon I can use. My Grandma encourages weird hobbies, so when my knife-throwing phase came along, she didn't disappoint.


	17. Games Continue

"Are you ready?" A voice on a loudspeaker echoes across the battle field.

I scramble to my feet and pick up the safe. I shin up the tree to a random den and hide the safe in it. I slide back down and grip Undyne to regain my balance.

"Set... GO!"

"Daisy, Izzy, Rachel, Alphys, Lauren and Margret!" Jessica orders. "Stay and guard! Each of you in a different den! Tabitha, Undyne, Romilly and Lizzy! Run around! Cause distractions! Hurt the boys! Yael and Ellie take the left side, Rose and I will take the right! Lavender, Heather, Raine and Andrea linger around, staying away from the conflict and ready to step in to replace anyone who fails. Katrina and Frisk run around keeping everyone notified on the situation, go!"

We all scatter to our positions and follow the commands. Jessica may be a racist and entitled brat, but her leadership skills are pretty good.

"Good luck!" The girl named Ellie smiles at me.

I smile a toothy, wolffish grin back and we part ways. I climb up a tree and jump to the next one. I travel by treetop as silently as I can for about half an hour without any disturbance before I hear footsteps below me. I ignore them. It's not my job, I'm going in for the kill. I continue to make ground away from our base. They're very far apart. I grow tired and the idea of taking a breather seems so tempting. _Snap out of it Yael, now's no time for resting. _I come to a silent halt as I spot something below me.

"No-" I terrified voice squeaks. "No please!"

"Calm down princess," I hear Alex snarling to Ellie. "It's just a hologram."

I aim a knife at his head and release it. He shrieks and lets go of her. I slide down and retrieve the knife. He isn't bleeding, but he's writhing around on the ground with pain.

"AH- WHY'D YOU- ARGH-" he screams. "MAKE IT STOP! IT- ARGH- IT HURTS-"

"It's just a hologram," I tell him coldly.

I take Ellie's hand and jog away with her.

"Sorry," she breathes. "I'll be more careful."

I nod and decide to take some time on foot. Jumping from tree to tree is exhausting. I keep close to the trees and bury myself in the leaves at even the thought of footsteps.

"I'm telling you Jackson!" Someone exclaims. "Over here!"


	18. Games Get Spicy

"You sure bro?" Another boy asks. "You sure Carter said over here?"

"How many times do I need to explain?!" The first boy glares. "Carter told me to tell you that the robot freak thing told him that he saw movement in the trees about a quarter of a mile back and theoretically, they should be here now!"

"Dude you're speaking hieroglyphics," the other one sniggers. "Probably nothing."

I shrink lower into the ground under the cover of leaves, my heart thumps against my ribs at twice its ordinary rate. They step even closer to my hiding spot.

"Nah man, you're seeing things," the second boy says. "C'mon, Jacob says they've got that Jessica girl."

"Really?" The first one chuckles. "She always was a damsel in distress, a hottie though."

"You're telling me," he laughs. "Like an anime character, I guess I always had a thing for anime girls."

"Then why aren't you drooling over one of those new freaks? Or that kitsune girl, or whatever the hell she is."

The rest of their conversation fades away as they walk in the other direction. I jump swiftly up and continue running. That was too close. I must be getting closer to the base, or the action at least. I hear footsteps and dive down into the leaves. They're too light to be male. I peak out at Frisk.

"Woah-" she lets out a noise of surprise as I stand up out of the leaves. "That was so cool! You're invisible in there!"

"Shh," I hush her.

"Whoops," she whispers. "I know that they've got Ellie, that girl was too delicate to last, but that's about it."

"They've got Jessica," I tell her. "What are they doing to them?"

"Torturing them," she shivers. "For the password."

"This is all so messed up," I say coldly. "Have they given in?"

"I don't think they can remember it," she grimaces. "But you know what that means,"

"Oh..." I breathe.

"The most important piece of information they can give away... is you."

I nod. Come on Yael, don't let it get to you.

"Ok, well... I won't tell them," I glare determinedly. "Not ever."

"That's my girl," Frisk smiles. "So it's just you and Rose on the attack."

We nod.

"Have you seen Wynn?" I ask.

"No, but I think he's defending."

"Ok," I breathe. "Good luck, and for my sake stay safe."

"You too."

We hug for a few seconds and go out separate ways. I take the trees. I think about things I'm not used to thinking about while I jump. Why do I hate guns so much? It's not like anyone I love was shot, just my not-Dad. They've got all that destruction in the hands of a sensitive trigger, and the barrels- urgh, I hate those barrels so much- so rude, pointing at you, convicting you, threatening you. I wonder why my not-Dad didn't just put his weapons down and surrender to the police, did he care about his dau- his experiment that much? No, he just knew that the game was up, that he wasn't about to go down without a fight. I wonder what he was like when Mum married him, because he must've changed, he must've been nicer for her to fall in love with him. He was leading her on, right? He played on her emotions, making her fall in love with a psychopath before just using her for his own benefit, right? She'd never love a man like him. Never. Never in a million years. Grandma says that people change and we should be open-minded, but it's hard as damnit to forgive him. Mum died, she died. She was never supposed to die. She was just a sweet lady caught up in a world of experiments and testing. I bet she never thought she'd help to create a freak who enjoys pain, who finds release in dragging a knife around their wrist. Hell if I know. Surely she couldn't bear it every time he sunk a needle into my neck. Surely she tried to stop him when he cut into my flesh for results, when he starved me just to see how I'd react. Obviously, she'd try to stop him, right?

_Oh kuso... stop thinking baka. Bad Yael. _

I shrug the thoughts out of my head and go over the plan in my head.

1: Get to the base.

2: Sneak in like the chameleon you are.

3: Poke around, use weapons if necessary.

4: Find the code.

5: Find the safe.

6: Take the flag.

7: Get the hell out of there.

They'll realise that it's missing soon enough, but they're not gonna suspect me. I use my tail for balance as I teeter on the edge of a tree. Time to focus. I keep jumping, enjoying the breeze in my face and ignoring the sound of drama being swept out from the distance. I land on one of my favourite trees. I don't know the name of it, but it's everywhere around these parts of the country. The leaves are dusty green, long and thin; they leave pretty patterns on the ground below them when the sunlight shines down on them. Imagine my delight when in the summer, they all turned a dark red colour and blossomed with beautiful flowers that shed their petals down on passers by. It's autumn now, summer's over and everything is dying. The leaves are still there, but soon enough they'll be on the ground to hide me along with all the other leaves. I jump onto the next. It looks like there's holly on this one, I'd better be careful. The next is an oak tree, then a beech, then another oak, then an aspen, then a tree with a blue glowing branch that-

the branch is tugged sharply to the ground as I land on it and I know I'm in for a fight.


	19. Games Get Dunked On

I fall and land on a cushion of leaves. I swing blindly at my pursuer, my hand meets knuckle-shattering bone. Despite this, something tells me that it isn't Papyrus. He kicks me in an attempt to keep my on the ground, but I jump to my feet. No time to reach for my weapons now, this is a hand to hand combat fight. I punch the figure in the chest, milliseconds after I land the blow on him, he disappears and I hear stumbling behind me. I swing around and let out a hiss as he strikes me across the face. A small cut opens up in my cheek. I glare and lash out again. My fingernails seek flesh to tear, but it doesn't find any. He seems to teleport out the way and shoves me over. I hit the back of my head on the aspen tree but stagger to my feet. Blood slowly trickles out of the corners of my mouth. This makes me all the more determined to overpower him. He dodges all of my blows and the blood dripping down my chin begins to boil. I jump at him but again, he teleports away. I roll over onto the grass and spit out a mouthful of blood. A growl escapes my throat and I bare my sharp teeth at him. My ears are flat against my head and my tail curls around my waist. I catch him off guard and land a blow on him. He does something weird which gives my body a faint blue glow. It tugs me up from a space somewhere inside of me and slams me onto the ground. He aims a punch at me and I block it with my elbows. That's gonna leave a mark. I start to reach for a knife but that blue glow comes back and I'm slammed against the floor again. I kick his ankles and he's thrown onto his knees. I strike him but he blocks it. We have a brawl-fight on the grass for a while, trying to overpower each other, while the blood pours from our wounds. He sends a holographic looking bone into my chest. I gasp out in pain and raise a hand to clutch the would-be wounded area. He slams me into the floor again and pins me down, having successfully overpowered me.

"Heya," he grins. "I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton. I'm kinda supposed to be torturing humans right now, you know, to get the information outa them, but uh, I don't really care about that."

Now that we're both still, I can see that it's a skeleton shorter but older than Papyrus. Perhaps they're brothers. He's wearing a white shirt and basketball shorts underneath a blue hoodie with white fur trim. It looks like he's wearing pink slippers, hey- I'm not judging! Everyone has their comfort clothes. He has a big grin on his face and his eyes are black with two white pinpricks, staring back at me. Beads of sweat are gathered on his forehead, I'm not quite sure how that works but I'm certain there's some sort of magical explanation for it.

"A pleasure," I lower my eyebrows and look pathetically up at him from the ground.

Blood stops flowing from my throat, but stays tangled in my hair and stains my skin. This must be the other skelebro people keep talking about. I'm not too impressed by his introduction, well, I suppose beating you up and then starting up a friendly conversation has character.

"HAVE YOU DONE IT?" Papyrus's voice comes out from somewhere behind me. "HAVE YOU CAPTURED A HUMAN?"

"Yup," Sans grins and lifts my head up by my hair.

I wince and Papyrus bounds over.

"WOWIE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES IT AGAIN! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

"Oh well, let's get started," he turns to me. "I suppose you're not gonna tell us the password?"

"YES," Papyrus frowns. "TELL US THE PASSWORD OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

I struggle underneath Sans but he keeps one hand in my hair, pinning my head to the ground, and he sits sideways on my chest. My arms are trapped behind my back.

"Nope," he smiles. "Didn't think so."

"SANS! DON'T GIVE UP THAT EASILY!"

"Alright, alright, you know, I don't really wanna do this. Alph, Papy and Metta have all said a skele_ton _of good things about you."

"SANS! GET ON WITH IT!"

"Ok."

I spot his eyes flicker to the side nervously.

He must be anxious about Papyrus watching him torture me. Man, am I gonna have to hurt Papyrus? I think I'd sooner kill myself. He brings another bone to my skull and impales me with it. It doesn't do a thing, but it hurts like the bloody gates of hell are opening and releasing all sorts of evil into my head. I bite my lip and let out a quiet groan. He does it again. I squeak and kick him.

"Does this count as _boning _you?" He jokes.

I glare and my cheeks go red.

"Hah," he winks. "Made you blush."

I kick some more and Papyrus pins my legs together.

"Papy," Sans complains. "This is boring, she isn't doing anything."

"OH MY-" Papyrus sighs. "LET ME DO IT."

"Hey," Another boy's voice calls out. "Find anythi-"

He spots me. This is bad, too many people have seen me.

"Having trouble?" He smirks. "Just hit her harder, Alex said she's a stubborn one."

"GOOD IDEA HUMAN!" Papyrus declares.

He begins stabbing me with a blue bone. I can't feel a thing.

"Uh, maybe use a regular attack," Sans tells him.

"ANOTHER GOOD IDEA! NYEH HEH HEH!"

He switches it to a normal one. I grimace and squirm. You know, being stabbed doesn't hurt half as much as I expected it to, but it still feels like he's tearing me limb from limb.

"SANS," Papyrus turns around. "IT'S NOT WORKING!"

Now's my chance. I leap out of Papyrus's grip. The human boy jumps up. I throw a knife reflexively into his leg. He falls to the floor and I grab the knife as I slide past him. Papyrus rushes towards me and time slows down as I ready my hand to throw the knife at him. No. Humans are awful but monsters don't deserve that. Especially not Papyrus. I shin up a tree and jump onwards.

"Argh!" The boy yells. "Get her damnit!"

Sans teleports in front of me but I jump by.

"Have a nice day," he grins as I pass.


	20. Games Progress

Sweet silence and little white noise from the rustling trees fill in the empty space. My body aches for me to go back on the ground, but that's far from safe. I hear more and more action going around. Everyone seems to be in the midst of it. Not me, I just travel on by it overhead. I've got a job to do. Soon enough, I pass the chaos in the middle and reach an area where there are no longer girls. I hop down from the tree and crawl over to a big and glorified den. I hide in the leaves, pressing my ear to the wood.

"And then she escaped."

"Ok, did she tell you the password?"

"She said she didn't remember it."

"Tsk, classic Jessica. Who do you reckon remembers the password?"

"I dunno, do you think it's Japanese?"

"Of course! That wolf freak! That'll be it. Heard anything of her?"

"Alex says he swears he saw her, she saved that Ellie girl or something."

"We should wait for Wynn to get back, speaking of which, is that him over there?"

"Urgh he looks so dreamy, distracted little ginger."

"Isn't your brother ginger?"

"Hey Wynn, get over here. You got any news?"

"Derik almost gave away the password," Wynn's voice says casually. "Jessica escaped and so did Yael."

"Who's Yael again?"

"Just because we all know about her ears and that now doesn't mean you should pretend to not recognise her."

"Ok, ok, fine. So what happened?"

"The skeleton brothers found her, Patrick got a knife in the leg from her."

"Hm, I didn't think the chick was athletic enough to throw a knife."

"Chick?" The other boy asks. "You called her a wolf freak not long ago."

"Shut up, so she's a threat? Ok, got it. How's Ray doing?"

"He was captured," Wynn ponders. "It's quite like him to betray his allies for himself, don't you think?"

"You shut up about Ray, send Logan in for backup."

There are footsteps.

"It'd better not rain," one of them says. "The paper'd get all soggy."

Jackpot. So the paper's on the roof of the ground or something. I crawl through the leaves as slowly as I can and circle around to the back of the building, well, stick fort. If I try to get onto the roof, this whole thing'll collapse. Hey... maybe that isn't such a bad idea... I spy up one of the supporting branches. There's another to my left. If I can get them to break at the same time, the roof will slope down towards me. I pick up a pebble from the floor and aim it at the back of someone's head. I don't wait to see if it hits. There's the shouting of commands and footsteps running out of the den. Perfect. I saw away at one of the beams, stopping before it gets a chance to fall. I do the same to the other one.

"Look! Look!" Someone cries. "Get her!"

I freeze up; did they see me? I peek out and watch the boys sprinting towards Rose with sparkling weapons. She shoots at them, panicking, but it ricochets and misses. I need to cause a distraction. I howl like a wolf- the first noise I could think of- and everyone stops moving. They turn around and someone declares.

"New target! Go! Go get her!"

I sprint forward, slamming a knife into the beams as I pass them, and the roof collapses. I grab a falling piece of paper, seizing it from the grip of the wind, and scramble up a tree. In the distance, I see Rose running. Good. I jump far away from the den, clutching the paper. I jump and jump but only stop when I see Frisk. I hop down, making her jump.

"Are you ok?" She asks. "I heard that Sans-"

"I've got the passcode," I wave the paper desperately.

I open the paper.

'_Thebestpassword'_

"Real original," Frisk sighs. "Thanks, I'll spread the message."

She runs off and I haul myself up another tree. It isn't safe for me to travel by ground anymore. I turn back and stumble over the treetops towards the boys' camp. I spot Undyne and a boy on the floor.

"Give it up freak!" He snarls.

I throw a knife directly at his head. He screams and falls over, writhing on the floor. The awful part is that I don't feel anything, not remorse, not regret, just emptiness. Maybe I really am going mad.


	21. Games Conclude

"Yael!" Undyne recognises the weapon.

I hop out and look around. Vicinity's clear.

"Thebestpassword," I whisper. "That's their password."

"Really?" She looks excited. "Come on! Let's go!"

We run through the woods. Her technique is noticeably different from mine. We sprint together, an odd pair. I run silently on my toes, nothing more than a flash of fur and dark clothing. Undyne stomps noisily along with me. Except, whenever anyone comes to fight her, she sends them onto the ground and away before they can blink. Eventually, we reach the clearing. People point to her and rush over with guns and knives. Undyne sends spears back at all of them with ease. I stand in awe at the tree-line. The shadows of the trees cover me, the darkness of my clothing and my hair blending in with it. I watch silently from afar as she storms over to the den and pokes through it, tackling anyone who gets in her way. She stops in one spot for a while. There's a click. The flag! She's opened the safe!

"Not today darling," Mettaton jumps out from behind her.

His grip is strong, you know, because he's a robot, and he roots her to the spot. She throws something in my direction. I catch the flag and turn around to run. I crash into someone. He grabs me and spits harshly.

"Didn't see you there in the dark, you're good at being invisible. All the better, we don't have to look at you." He pulls my hair and puts a gun to my head.

"Hand over the flag."

I hold it tight.

"HAND OVER THE FLAG!"

I don't move.

"GIVE ME THE DAMNED FLAG YOU FREAK!"

He pulls the trigger of his gun and shoots me in the head. The holographic bullet- while doing no actual harm to me- sends an agonising shockwave through my body. If the bullet were real, it'd all be over. I'd be dead and free from the pain. But I'm not.

"GIVE IT TO ME!"

He shoots again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

People turn around.

"Uh, Damion, I think that's a bit too far-"

"HAND IT OVER YOU BRAT!"

He shoots me again and again and again until he runs out of bullets. Blood runs down my chin from biting down on it. My eyes are scrunched up and he loosens his grip on me. I sink to my knees but still, I keep hold of the flag. I can see the array of pale faces, Papyrus looking shocked and frightened. He lets go.

"Do I have to explain it to you again? I'll give you five seconds. Five, four, three, two-"

I pull out a knife and jump to my feet. He stumbles backwards and a faint smile resonates in my eyes.

"One," I whisper and take the moment to sprint away.

People pursue me, boys and girls. I can see Jessica ahead of me. I throw her the flag and she sprints on. Right now, I just need a break. Urgh, I could really do with a good cut right now. These holograph things couldn't give me blood if I digested one of them. I climb up a tree and breathe out. Come on Yael. I drop to the ground and run for miles. Jessica should be back by now, I wonder what's taking her so long. The girls dens come into view and I freeze up at the sight before me. Alphys is desperately trying to stop the other girls from torturing Wynn. I sprint over and all words leave me.

"Come on!" Alphys tries to convince them.

"Jess has the flag," I breathe to her.

"We've almost won!" Alphys tells them.

They pause from hurting Wynn and look at her.

"Fine," Rachel glares. "Lauren, will you make sure he stays far away from here?"

Lauren nods and takes Wynn by the collar. They go out of sight and I sit down low in the leaves. I hit my head on the tree behind me with a jolt as Jessica comes bursting out through the clearing. Alex follows her close behind.

"Hold him off!" She cries desperately.

People jump forward and fight him. He manages to kick his way past them. We're so close! Jess just needs to wave both the flags, then we'll be done. She brings the paper from one den into another and opens the safe. There's the sound of knuckle meeting flesh. Jessica screams and my blood runs cold as I watch her fall from the den and onto the ground. She doesn't get up.

Alex waves both the flags triumphantly and cheers. He's the only one cheering. Alphys rushes over to check her pulse, she puts her in the recovery position and announces that she's breathing. Her ankle looks broken. There's anticlimactic silence. It's broken by a hissing sound. Yellow tendrils of gas float into the sky from all around. I cover my airways and try not to panic. What is this? Why is this happening? Is it poisonous? Will it- my questions are silenced as I accidentally inhale it. One breath of the smoke makes me fall unconscious, the others aren't an exception.


	22. Wake Up

I wake up on a gym mat in the training hall. Teachers walk around and as everyone begins to wake up, there's no sign of Alex or Jessica.

"Good evening," Miss Kubara smiles. "I am aware that you all must be so confused. First, I'd like to assure you that Jessica is in the hospital wing and Alex will be expelled with immediate effect. He disobeyed the rules and now he must pay the price. There isn't a clear winner of the two teams, Alex got the two flags but cheated in order to do so. However, we still have the nicknames for all of you which we will be announcing tomorrow at the ceremony. It takes place in the afternoon and there will be an after-party in the evening. You will have the morning to heal. For now, get back to your dorms and sleep. Good game."

She steps out of the room and people begin to mutter. I spot Alphys and walk with her back to the room. Frisk and Undyne are waiting.

"Everyone alright?" Undyne asks. "Frisk?"

"I'm good."

"Babe?"

"I'm fine t-thanks."

"Yael?"

"I'm ok," I say reflexively.

"You sure?" She asks. "I heard you got in a fight with Sans."

"I'm ok," I repeat.

We abandon the conversation and head off to sleep. I dream of aggressive boys with guns and girls with broken ankles.


	23. The Ceremony

I wake up to Frisk grinning and shaking me.

"Wake up!" She beams.

"W-what time is it?" I grumble.

"Four!" She announces proudly.

"Why the hell are you waking me up at-" I start.

"Nickname ceremony!" She squeals. "It starts outside at six!"

"One," I scowl. "Why? And two, how do you know?"

"Because I, unlike some people, actually stay updated with the school planner," she pulls out her phone and sighs.

I smile and get out of bed. There are showers all over the place, but I want to visit Kasandra. I put on some clean underwear and pull my kimono on over the top. I bring a hairbrush and a few washing products down to the girls changing room.

"Hi Yael," she looks happy to see me.

"Hey," I wave with my right hand, my scarred left hand firmly behind my back.

"Getting ready for the ceremony?"

"Yup," I pause. "Do you ever sleep?"

"I'm a ghost silly," she smirks. "Sleep is unnecessary."

"Right."

She turns around and I take my clothes off, hooking it on one of the changing room pegs. I bring my hairbrush and other appliances into the shower. I wash my hair, I used to use conditioner before shampoo because it's more convenient, but apparently it's unhygienic for whatever reason, so I stopped. I wash my body and shave my armpits. I brush my hair and step out of the shower. I hate doing this but I suppose it's long overdue; I get out my bottle of hair removal cream. I put on my underwear and kimono and sit on a bench. I spread the stuff on one of my legs and get out my phone. I go to the timer and wait the longest six minutes of my life before scraping off the cream along with the hair. I have a habit of being a bit too harsh on myself when doing this. I hack at some slightly stubborn patches of hair and eventually my legs are completely naked of hair from the knee down. Red streaks and scratches are dotted around from where I scraped a little too hard. I do the same for my other leg (knee down) and a little on my stomach. I take of my kimono and switch on the shower again. I wash my legs and the bit on my stomach to make sure no cream is left. That stuff burns if you accidentally leave it on for over ten minutes. I get all my stuff together, give my hair one last brush and wave goodbye to Kassandra. You know, when I first began to self harm, I was always so anxious about people finding out. After a couple years, I'm used to how blind people are. You can shower in the same room as someone with the curtain open and- so long as you're wary- they won't notice. Self harm is a bit like smoking. It has no health benefits whatsoever and I don't recommend it, but it brings release that nothing else can satisfy. If you've never tried it, good. Don't. It's like a drug, like nicotine. It's extremely addictive. I'm hooked. I travel back to my dorm and grab an old pair of jeans.

"What do you think you're doing?" Frisk grins. "It says on the website that girls must wear dresses and boys must wear ties."

"You're joking," My mouth drops open. "What if you don't identify as either? What if you're allergic to ties or something? What if I don't have a dress?"

"That's what the school tailor's for!" Frisk grabs my arm and we all rush out of the room.

She pulls me to a room full of material and pincushions.

"Good morning mademoiselles!" A man with a thick French accent addresses us. "I will attend you shortly, but first allow me to finish helping Miss Tabatha."

We sit down and chat quietly before Tabatha leaves and the man approaches us.


	24. Fashion Is Key

"Bonsior," he bows happily. "Je m'appelle Mr Vêtement, what can I do for you belles femmes?"

He's extremely enthusiastic and even more un-racist. That's good.

"Three dresses please!" Undyne announces.

"Bien," he smiles. "Who's first?"

Undyne stands up and follows him into a side room.

"I'm going to wear my own dress," Alphys tells me. "I want to wear it."

We wait a while for Mr What'sHisName to finish up. He walks out, grabs something on a clothing hanger wrapped in plastic, and goes back in. Undyne comes out wearing a white dress with yellow lining. It has one sleeve and tightens at the waist before falling loose around her ankles. The yellow brings out her eyes of a similar colour. Frisk stands up and goes to have her turn. She walks out in a dress that reaches just above her knees. It's adorable. The top is white, with two straps, and a cat head adorns the chest in black. The skirt is black as well, so it looks like it's part of the cat. She grins and indicates for me to stand. I walk with Mr FancyMcLastName and he strolls around me.

"Tell me about yourself," he smiles. "What's your favourite colour? Rouge? Blanc? What's your name? What are you like? What's your spirit animal?"

"My favourite colour is black, my name is Yael, I'm shy and my spirit animal is a wolf," I shrug.

"A closed book, oui?" He nods. "Ok, do you like to impress people? Do you like boys?"

"I barely like people in general," I say honestly.

"I see, I see," he touches his lips thoughtfully. "I think I have just the dress."

He leaves the room and comes back with a concealed outfit.

"Try it on," he passes it to me, smiling.

I turn my back and take off my kimono. I put on the dress.

"Bien!" He claps. "C'est beau!"

I look down at it. It's blood red and made of a soft, breathable material. The sleeves are medium and come up just above my elbows. It's tightest at the top where it's pulled in the most at the waist. The skirt bit falls out around me, reaching to my knees, it's pleated like a school skirt and moves neatly as I walk. It allows a good amount of movement, that's useful to know. I step out of the room, holding my arm casually behind my back, and my tail swishes underneath the skirt. The girls give me the thumbs up and we wave him goodbye.

"Au revoir!" He smiles.


	25. The Ceremony Begins

We get back to the room and check the clock. We have about half an hour. Alphys gets on her black and white polka dot dress and she ties Undyne's hair in a ponytail high up her head. She tied little plaits going into them. Undyne does Frisk's hair at the same time into two little bunches. She looks young and cute. Frisk motions for me to sit in front of her. She sets to work with a comb and I have to wonder what she's doing.

"There," she snaps a photo and shows it to me.

A French plait travels across the back of my head and comes down in a regular plait on my left shoulder. Locks of hair, which I keep short, hang down at the sides of my face so I can hide behind them. I grin at Frisk and she pulls me up.

"NOW FOR THE ACCESSORIES!"

She puts on a beaded bracelet and a golden heart locket. Undyne puts on a little marmite tub charm on a chain around her neck and no one questions it. The dress is nice and all, but it could do with some toughening up. With the long sleeves, I don't have to constantly be paranoid about my wrist. I put on a black leather jacket and do it up. I step into my leather hunting boots and put on a necklace with a shard of black obsidian and a silver chain. Undyne chuckles and Frisk tuts.

"They thought they'd have everyone in classical clothes at their formal event but no one can stop Yael the Edgelord from making an ordinary dress into a leather emo outfit."

"Says the girl wearing a cat dress," I remind her.

"If it helps," Undyne smiles. "I'm putting on a denim jacket over this dress."

She slides on the jacket without doing it up. She steps into some trainers, Frisk steps into a pair of ballet shoes and Alphys wears some heels that she instantly trips over in and switches to small ankle high boots. Undyne digs around her suitcase and brings out a mirror. She hangs it on a peg on the wall and peers at it. She applies a bit of makeup and the others do the same. I approach the mirror. I look edgy, but still obeying the dress code. I have a small bruise on my cheekbone and a cut above my left eye. I don't bother putting on any makeup. The water in my hair has dried and it feels clean and glossy.

"R-ready?" Alphys asks.

We nod and climb down the ladder. We head out to the courtyard and follow Frisk to an odd setup. There are two lines of chairs parallel to each other, facing the back of each one like they're following each other. It creates a long isle with a stage at the front. Speakers are dotted around the site. We're not late, just not early. We end up near the back. Alphys sits in the chair parallel to mine and Undyne sits in front of me. Frisk sits in the seat parallel to hers. More people come and eventually they start the ceremony. I squint over the crowd. I can see Wynn's ginger hair near Papyrus's tall stature. Mettaton is visible too. Sans must be around there somewhere.

"Good morning," Miss Kubara smiles. "You are gathered here today to receive your nicknames as the sun rises. Your nicknames will not be mandatory at all times, but when we are in public, under supervision or making announcements, we will use them. I will call you up in a random order at a time, so be sure to pay attention. Rachel, Rose, Dylan, Ray and Mettaton."

They all stand up and walk along the long isle to the stage.

"Rachel's nickname is Odanna from the Bosnian word 'odan' meaning loyal, like you were to your peers when guarding the base. Rose's nickname is Kath after Katherine Howard, the rose without a thorn. Dylan's nickname is Axel, deprived from the axe he proved that he is so good at using. Ray's nickname is Instinct which reflects his natural instinct of self preservation. Mettaton's nickname is Star, a celestial entity used to describe fabulous characters, like Mettaton."


	26. Nymphs

I try my best not to fall asleep through all the names and nicknames. I only really remember that Undyne is 'Warrior,' Alphys is 'Scientist,' Frisk is 'Determined,' Sans is 'Comedian,' Wynn is 'Moon' and Papyrus is 'Enthusiast.'

"Yael-" I hear her call my name in the next group.

I stand up, my pulse drumming in my ears and my heart drilling against my ribs. I walk down the long pathway of chairs and tune out through the first couple of names.

"And Ellie's nickname is Doe, an animal which nicely represents her calm, gentle personality. Yael's nickname is Dryad, the name of a type of nymph which are found inhabiting trees. Nymphs are shy creatures which closely follow the goddess Artemis, a strong hunter and not troubled by the cycle of life and death. Sam's nickname is-"

I feel my chest become lighter with relief and I tune out until she tells us to go back to our chairs. I wait until the ceremony is over and get distracted by the beautiful sunrise. Miss Kubara dismisses us and we stand up. I walk a few paces to the edge of the hill (which Dystopian Prep is located on top of) and stare out at the sunrise.


	27. Social Interactions

"GREETINGS!" Papyrus exclaims, making me jump. "HOW DO YOU LIKE MY NEW NICKNAME?"

"It suits you," I smile quietly and add "Enthusiast."

"NYEH HEH HEH!" He beams "THANK YOU _DRYAD!"_

He's wearing a shirt with the words 'cool dude' written on it, he's tied a tie around his neck in a bow. I stare out at the horizon a little longer and jump again at the sound of Papyrus's harsh voice.

"ALTHOUGH, I FEEL LIKE MY BROTHER WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE SUITED TO THE NAME 'LAZY.' HE SLEEPS IN EVERY DAY, HE ALWAYS FALLS ASLEEP ON HIS JOB, AND HE WON'T PICK UP HIS GOSH DARN SOCK!" He waves his fist in the air. "PICK UP YOUR SOCK SANS!"

Suddenly, Sans appears in front of us.

"I have been summoned," he jokes dramatically.

"ARGH!" Papyrus stomps. "THAT'S IT!"

He storms off to talk to Mettaton.

"What's up _Rya_?" Sans asks.

"Rya?"

"As in, D_rya_d," he shrugs. "It's a stretch."

I smirk.

"Nothing much, _Comedian."_

He chuckles and we stare at the sun for a while. He, unlike Papyrus, actually knows how to tie a tie. He has a long sleeved white shirt on with the sleeves rolled up and a black tie on around his neck. He's wearing basketball shorts and his classic slippers.

"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot yesterday," he turns to me. "As far as first impressions go. Howzabout a handshake?"


	28. Second First Impressions

I look at him skeptically as he offers me his hand. I take it slowly and the sound of a whoopee cushion rings out. We stand there in awkward silence as the long noise breaks out. It finally finishes up and he winks.

"How's that for a first impression?"

"Better than beating my head in with a bone."

"Yeah, heh," he blushes. "Sorry about that, I, uh, really did a number on you..."

"Eh," I shrug. "I've had worse."

"You're Wynn's friend, right?" He asks.

"Yup."

"He's pretty cool. Not a stupid racist like most people." He grins. "How does it feel to be an abomination to human and monster kind?"

I stand in unimpressed silence.

"That was a joke," he explains.

"Right," a nervous spasm makes my shoulder jerk slightly.

"I'm sure Alphys would be really interested in the biology of that."

"It's, uh," I flush. "Not a very happy story."

"Oh," his face goes blue. "Sorry."

"You didn't know," I shrug.

"Hey guys!" Undyne exclaims, rushing towards us.

I wave and she admires the sunrise.

"It's pretty isn't it!" She declares.

"Way better than any replacements we could scrape together in the underground," Sans nods.

We stand there in silence for at least ten minutes.

"I heard that there's a photo shoot for something or rather at eight," Undyne pipes up.

"Really?" I become flustered. "That's half an hour away- I'll- I'll see you in the dorm."

I jog into the building and up to our dormitory room. I peer into the mirror. _Photos, why did it have to be photos? Cameras hate me and I hate them back._

"Hi," Alphys waves, surprising me. "Getting ready for the photos?"

"Y-yeah," I nod.

I look at the glass. The wind has knotted the loose hair by my face a little so I comb it. I suppose they're doing it now while we'll all in formal clothing. I don't blame them. I help Alphys to arrange her outfit and practise her neutral face. I check the school app on my phone.

_~Photoshoot at 08:00. Meet in image room.~_

I look at my map. Sure enough, there's an image room right next to the tailor's room. We rush all the way there and come into a room full of people. They're ordering everyone into a line.


	29. Photography

"We want you alphabetically in order as of your last names," a man explains.

I head straight for the back. Alphys goes somewhere in the middle and I spot the skelebros walking nearer to the front. The line goes on for hours, each person being individually taken into a small room off of the side. It's maddeningly slow. I bite the skin off of my lip as the time goes on until eventually, they get to me.

"Please follow me," the man waves.

I walk into the small room. It's white and a large camera faces one wall.

"I just need to get some neutral shots and clips of you," he says. "So you can just stand there and look at the wall behind me here."

I do as he says, standing with my legs together looking unsmilingly at the wall. I resist the urge to fiddle my tail and wag it around. One of my ears twitches slightly.

"Ok thanks," He fiddles with his camera. "Now just one posing shot, whatever you want."

I hold my arms and look reclusively at the camera. There's a clicking sound and he indicates for me to leave.

"Thank you."

I walk out and go back to the dorm. I pick up a book from my drawer and read from where I left off.

'_When all the blood in Sophie's body had returned to its proper place, the two went on, quicker now, for fear of the rising sun. _

"_The filing cabinets had locks on them,' she said. "Do you think I could hammer them open?"_

"_Non," said Matteo. "The whole of Paris would hear you."_

"_Damn. How else then?" She said. "Could I crow-bar them open?"_

"_But you pick the lock, of course."_

"_How? Ouch!"_

_Sophie's nose met Matteo's foot. They were crawling over the peaked roof of a butcher's shop, and Matteo had stopped to stare at her. _

"_You've never picked a lock?" He sounded genuinely incredulous. "I thought it was... I don't know, like breathing. I thought everybody could."_

"_Why would I know how to pick a lock?" _

"_Really? You really don't know? I can do it with my teeth."_

"_For goodness sake, no, I don't!" They were in sight of Hotel Bost now.'_

"Hiya," Undyne climbs in. "Ready for the after-party? It's gonna be wicked cool!"

"That's hours away," I shrug.

"You gonna bring a date?" She winks.

"I have a date with my books," I glare.

I take my book and sit in the window hole. I read for two hours. It gets to the point where the girls are pulling me down and forcing me out the door to play table tennis with them.


	30. Competitive Table Tennis

We meet up together and- though impractical due to our tight clothing- begin to play. Wynn, Sans, Undyne, Papyrus, Alphys, Mettaton, Frisk and I all gather around to play matches in teams. The girls go on one side, the boys on the other. Mettaton goes up against Frisk. She tries hard, but Mettaton has an advantage. He gets the point. Undyne goes against Papyrus. She shows the ball no mercy, slamming it so hard against the table that it dents.

"WOWEE!" Papyrus claps. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL ACCEPT DEFEAT AFTER SUCH A MAGNIFICENT SHOT!"

"YEAH," Undyne yells, punching the air with her fist. "THAT'S RIGHT."

Sans walks up and stretches out the dent with magic, fixing it. He goes against Alphys. She rushes around, trying her best to hit the ball each time it comes her way. Sans stands there, a grin plastered onto his face, moving the paddle with blue magic. He gets the point.

"Come on," Sans grins as Wynn and I get up to play. "Do what your name tells you to."

Wynn turns to him shocked.

"I AM NOT MOONING HER!"

He pauses.

"Oh wait you meant to win," he smiles. "Yeah I'll try."

Frisk sniggers and everyone else just stands there in speechlessness. People join in laughing and I ready myself to play. Wynn serves and I hit it swiftly back. We have a long rally.

"Don't ruin your nails," he jokes.

I slam my paddle onto the ball and it whizzes past his head, missing by a millimetre. It slams into a tree behind him and he jumps in shock.

"Whoops," I say sarcastically, memories of throwing rocks at girls in trees inching through my mind.

"That was out!" Mettaton declares. "We win!"

Undyne opens her mouth to argue, but shuts it at the sight of Papyrus celebrating. No one can argue with that innocent little cinnamon roll. We play a few more matches then go our separate ways. I find Kassandra and practise séancing with her, figuring that the after-party'll take all evening. Eventually, it rolls around. I head up to the dorm and immediately get bombarded with girls. Undyne raids my wardrobe, getting Alphys's opinion, while Frisk holds me down. Undyne thrusts a collection of clothing articles into my arms and they all turn around.

"Get changed into that!" They declare.

I smile and roll my eyes. I oblige, peeling off my formal clothing and putting on the outfit they strew together.

"I'm ready," I tell them.

I'm wearing a black and red striped shirt with long sleeves underneath a short sleeved black shirt with a red anarchy symbol displayed on it. I have black and red striped tights underneath a black pleated skirt that nearly reaches my knees. I'm standing in some leather goth boots which I forgot I own. I'm in some fingerless fishnet gloves. I keep my hair up and my necklace on.

"Happy?" I ask.

They grin and set to picking out their own outfits. I sit anxiously on the floor, stroking my tail. I'm not gonna lie, this party seems a bit nerve-wrecking all of a sudden.

"Come on!" Frisk pulls me to my feet when they've all put on their outfits.


	31. A Memorable Night

We sprint off to the training hall, already late, and I freeze up at the entrance to the dark room booming with music.

"It'll be fun," Alphys empathises with me and takes me inside.

We find the others pretty quickly, Papyrus is rather hard to miss, and make awkward small talk.

"Are you nervous?" Wynn asks.

"Is it that obvious?" I sigh.

"Kinda," Sans pipes in. "_Anarchy _honest with ya, the dark room ain't hiding your red face."

"Was that supposed to mean _and I'll be?"_

"Don't judge my pun capabilities," he winks. "It's hard making these up on the spot."

"I WILL JUDGE THEM!" Papyrus glares. "YOU WATCH ME!"

"Come on Paps," he grins. "Don't look so chilled to the bone."

"GOSH DARNIT SANS!"

He walks off to talk to Mettaton and Frisk comes over.

"You're almost fully emo!" She declares. "You just need some red highlights in your hair or something."

"Remind me never to let you near my shampoo," I smirk.

"Ooh!" Frisk claps excitedly as the cha cha slide comes on. "Come on!"

"I don't dance," I blush.

"Don't be silly," she grins.

I open my mouth to protest, but Frisk Wynn and Sans grab me, dragging me to the rows of dancers. I struggle but reluctantly oblige eventually.

"You owe me," I scowl to Frisk.

She giggles and we dance. It's an easy dance, everyone knows it. You just do what the music tells you to do. After several minutes of sliding to the left, sliding to the right, hopping three times, hopping two times, crisscrossing, clapping our hands and cha cha-ing real smooth, the song ends and a popular tune replaces it. It's overrated and it's my job to hate popular songs. Girls squeal and Frisk readies herself to dance again. I begin to sneak off but she grabs me.

"Not on my watch!"

"Really?" I sigh.

"Yup!"

The song seems like it lasts forever before the Macarena comes on. It doesn't require much effort and so I reluctantly stay with Frisk. After about seven songs, I grow thirsty. I find the snack bar and grab a plastic cup of water. It's cold and I down it in one sip.

"I wonder how many calories people burn every day from dancing," Wynn ponders beside me.

"I wonder how many people die every day from dancing," I pant, pouring myself more water.

He takes a glass for himself and we finish up. The others are sitting in the corner in a circle, contemplating about life. We join them.

"So, like," Undyne asks me drowsily. "If the sun went out-"

"We'd die," I say bluntly.

"No but like-"

"It'd be eight minutes before we noticed."

"No- wait, really?"

"That's the speed of light from the sun to the Earth."

"Hey guys," Frisk pipes up. "I'm gonna go request a song, anyone wanna come with me?"

"I'll come," Wynn says.

"Wanna play spin the bottle?" Mettaton suggests to the rest of us.

"I'm coming too," I stand up quickly.

We squeeze through the crowd of teens, music making my sensitive ears throb. I cover them and wait with Wynn while Frisk speaks to the DJ.

"It's loud enough to break glass," he frowns. "Music can do that, right?"

"With this volume," I screw my eyes shut. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"He said yeah," Frisk turns to us. "See you back there."

She sprints off to the back and we begin to follow her. A high pitched scream rings out through the hall. There's gunshot. The scream cuts off.


	32. An Unforgettable Night

The room goes into chaos. Everyone

is running around screaming. My eyes go wide and I tug on Wynn's arm.

"Come on! Run!"

He trips over a speaker and it lands on his foot. We stumble a few steps before he trips. I pull him up.

"Come on come on!" I'm frantic.

I tug him along and he limps a few more steps.

"Wynn!" I panic.

There's more gunshot. Wynn drops to the floor. He doesn't get up.

"WYNN!" I scream.

"Go..." is the last thing I hear from his throat.

I sprint out of the room, tripping and stumbling, blinded by tears. I find my way into the drying room and slip behind the tapestry. I clutch my hair in my hands and pant uncontrollably. I choke and cough and pant. Choking, coughing, panting. Nothing else. I stay there in a fit of hysterics for hours until the door creaks open. I ignore it.

"Yael," a steady voice calls out. "Yael?"

The tapestry is pulled aside. Sans looks up at me.

"Frisk said I'd find you here," he puts a hand on my forehead. "Shh," he whispers soothingly. "Shh, it's alright. You're ok."

But it's not alright. I can't control my breathing, tears stream down my face.

"Come on, come here," he opens his arms.

I embrace him and sob quietly. He strokes my hair.

"There we are, shh, just let it all out."

I slow my breathing and manage to get it in a steady rhythm. He holds me firmly and I wipe the tears from my face.

"Are you hurt?" He asks. "What happened?"

"They-" I choke. "They killed Wynn..."

He freezes and continues to hold me, I worry that I'll fall if he doesn't.

"He didn't deserve that," he says. "Not at all." He tucks my hair behind my ear. "The school's safe now, come on."


	33. Explanation, now

He takes me out of the room. Cold air brings relief to my hot face, boiling from the drama and the stuffy drying room. He brings me to his room where all the others wait. Undyne holds me close to her side and Frisk puts a hand on my shoulder.

"It was a racist attack," Alphys explains after a while. "It was aimed at the monsters. The attackers are being dealt with now. Miss Uraganogukam made sure they're not gonna try anything else like that... _ever."_

We sit in silence, reassuring each other and catching our breath until there's a knock on the door. Mr Idimor looks in.

"Are you all ok?" He asks gently.

Silence.

"Everyone is to meet in the gym."

He leaves. We take a minute to process the command and begin to head out to the gym. Undyne keeps an unyielding hand on mine. No one speaks. No one.

"Dystopian Prep has witnessed an attack," Miss Uraganogukam declares simply. "We have experienced similar attacks before and will do again. This attack was racially motivated, aimed specifically at this year group due to the monster students. There are victims. Many injured, several dead. Ironically, all of the targeted students live. A funeral will be held on Monday, you don't have to attend unless you want to. This applies to all years. The school's security is being improved, all issues will be dealt with. You can sleep soundly tonight with the knowledge that no one will be attacking our school any time soon. Thank you. You are dismissed."

Everyone files out, quiet as ever. I sit on the window of my dorm. I don't sleep.


	34. Haaah

I don't leave the window for the next day, nor the next. Every now and then Alphys or Mettaton or someone comes in to give me food or support. I don't say a word. I don't eat. I just sit there for days. Undyne gets me up and in the shower on the day of the funeral. I dress in black and stand bitterly at the mass-grave of the dead students. People from all years gather around. Wynn shouldn't have died. He didn't deserve to die. Those men, the attackers, they shouldn't have been born. They don't deserve to live. I go back inside at the end and watch from the window as people talk and leave gifts on the grave. It should've been me instead of him. I'm tainted with a layer of blood and darkness. He's innocent. He did nothing wrong. Nothing. My phone buzzes.

_Grandma: Yael, my favourite magomusume, are you alright? _

_Grandma: I heard there was an attack. _

_Grandma: I was going to wait a week before pestering you about school, but I can't wait. _

_Grandma: I'm so sorry about your friend. _

_Grandma: Yael?_

_Grandma: Yael are you there?_

_Grandma: Please talk to me. _

_Grandma: I know it must be difficult for you at the moment, but you have to be fearless. _

_Grandma: I love you Yael. _

I put my phone on silent and stare back out of the window. The next day, Miss Uraganogukam walks into the room, holding out a bottle of water to me. I sip it reluctantly and she speaks quietly.

"I understand that you have lost a close friend, I know the feeling. I wanted to promise that you're not alone."

She sits beside me.

"There are always people who care for you, your friends are worried sick about you. They will help you through this, you just have to let them in."

I don't say anything and stare at the ground.

"Stay strong," she puts a hand on my shoulder and I flinch. "Don't give up."

We sit there in silence for a few minutes until she stands up and leaves. I don't move from the window.

Two days later, Papyrus walks in.

"HELLO HUMAN."

He looks up at me from the floor and speaks much more quietly than usual.

"EVERYONE IS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU, PLEASE COME DOWN."

I don't move.

"PLEASE HUMAN," he repeats. "YOU'RE SCARING US."

I stay firmly in place.

"I WON'T FORCE YOU TO COME DOWN," he says eventually. "BUT IF YOU WANT TO COME DOWN AND MAYBE HAVE SOME GET WELL SOON SPAGHETTI, JUST ASK."

He leaves and I feel even more empty inside. Another day goes by.

"Hiya punk," Undyne says sadly.

She puts a plate of pasta and bacon on my chair, picking up the untouched one from yesterday.

"We really miss you, please come down. Wynn would've wanted you to."

I sit sadly in place.

"At least, for us, just eat something."

She backs down the ladder and I'm left alone. I reach down for something. My hand hovers over the warm food for a minute while I feel around in my draw. I bring back up my pocket knife and drag it across my wrist. I barely notice the pain. I might as well be dead, I can't feel anything. No pain, no feelings, nothing. Just numbness. All I do is sit there for another week, sinking the knife into my flesh and staring out the window. Alphys just made a visit to give me food and I can hear her shutting the trapdoor. These days are all the same. They go by with only little differences. One day I lie down on the window. One day I don't. One day someone looks at me from outside. One day the hunger is almost unbearable. One day it leaves the top of my mouth tasting like the smell of vanilla. One day a heron lands on a tree in the distance. One day it's just a crow. One day I'm sitting up on the windowsill. One day I'm standing on a chair, a noose crafted from a belt around my neck; a psychotically giddy feeling fills my stomach.

_Hah. Haah. _

_H_a_a_a_h. _


	35. Mission Failed

I shuffle to the edge of the chair and breathe. This is the most peaceful I've felt for as long as I can remember. I'm about to step off when the trapdoor creaks open.

"Look, I know you don't want to talk, but I just wanted to say that-" Sans's voice freezes. "_Y-Yael? Oh my- no... no- look at me," _he takes a slow step towards me. "_That's it, just focus on me..."_

His voice is shaking and he looks terrified. He walks slowly towards me. My feet twitch and I lean closer to the edge.

"No-!" He gasps. "_J-just look at me, only on me. Now t-take the belt off of your neck," _something about his voice makes me obey slowly.

The belt dangles, swaying slowly, in front of me. He raises his hand, using that blue magic which moves me from the space in my chest. I'm thrown off of the chair and into his arms. I stare ahead of me like a deer in the headlights as he weeps into my shoulder.

"_Y-you scared me." _He chokes between sobs. "_You scared me to death."_

He holds me even tighter and I just stand there, hugging him as he whimpers on my shoulder. I take a few minutes to process what just happened. He takes me by the arm and leads me out of the room. I wander aimlessly with him as he takes me into his dorm. The others look up. He wipes his face and stutters out what happened. Undyne leaves with Papyrus and Alphys and Mettaton rushes off with Frisk in the direction of the kitchen. Sans tucks me into his bed and puts a hand on my forehead.

"Don't do that again, **EVER**." His voice is dark and terrifying.

I stare up back at him and he strokes my hair.

"Get some sleep."

I doze off for the first time in weeks and no dreams carry me away.

"Rya?" A voice asks. "Dryad? Yael?"

I open my eyes to find everyone leaning over me, gazing down at my pale face.

"Oh good," Mettaton sighs. "Here, please eat."

He brings a bowl of soup closer to my face. I'm about to refuse but the warm steam and thick scent of the meal forces me to oblige. I take it from him and sip it slowly. It burns my mouth but I barely notice.

"You scared us all, you know," Undyne says after a while. "But that doesn't matter. Just as long as you're alive."

I blush faintly and jump, nearly spilling my soup, as an unwelcome voice speaks.

"Yes, the welfare of our students is one of our top priorities," Miss Kubara smiles.

Does she ever stop smiling?

"You will be assigned with a safeguarding teacher, Miss Uraganogukam is up for it but we still await your confirmation. We ask your friends not to leave you alone at any given time. You won't have any classes on your own."

I nod and blink tiredly. Miss Kubara talks for a bit longer, then leaves me with the others.

"That woman's not right in the head," Frisk speaks after an awkward minute of silence.

"SHE IS DEFINITELY RATHER STRANGE," Papyrus agrees.


	36. The Traitor

I finish my soup and Undyne goes to wash the bowl.

"Do you want to go rafting sometime?" Frisk asks the group. "I saw some places we could go in the future."

"Sounds good," Mettaton shrugs. "But Yael is our first priority."

"You guys can have fun," I tell them. "I shouldn't be bringing you guys down with me."

"Quit being so damn modest," Sans ruffles my hair.

I stay in bed with the others until I remember someone I want to check on.

"Mind if I go to-"

"You ain't going anywhere on your own," Undyne interrupts me abruptly.

"I'll be fine, I-"

"Nope."

"But-"

"Still nope."

I purse my lips together.

"You can choose who you want to come with you I guess," Frisk shrugs.

I ponder, then conclude the best candidate.

"Uh, ok, Papy I guess?"

Papyrus grins and I slip out of the bed.

"Be quick," Sans says sternly.

"Yeah yeah," I roll my eyes.

We exit the room and I head straight down to the girl's changing room.

"UH, AM I ALLOWED IN THERE?" Papyrus asks.

"It's nothing," I shrug.

We enter and I spot Kassandra.

"Just, uh, wait there," I point to one of the benches. "I just need to... to... to clear my mind and, you know, exhaust all those voices in my head."

"OK!" Papyrus beams.

I take a deep breath and step over to Kassandra.

"Hey," I mutter. "I-"

"I know," she smiles sadly. "I listened from the vents."

"So-"

"You'll have to practise séanceing some other way, now that you can't be alone and all."

"Right..."

There's a short silence.

"I heard other things," she goes on. "They've found the identities of those behind the attack."

I freeze up.

"There's five men, this one Russian lady, a kid with a cockney accent and that Alex boy who left."

"A-Alex?" I breathe.

"Yeah," she crosses her legs. "Him and a few of the men were the only ones that survived."

"You don't happen to know where they are?" I ask, my breathing uneven.

"Well they didn't figure it out but I thought it was obvious," she shrugs. "Some warehouse down south, not too far from here actually. They think Alex was the main participant in the fight."

"He killed Wynn..." I mutter. "That damned prick, he killed Wynn..."

"Sorry," she looks concerned. "I didn't mean to bring up a hard topic or anything, I just-"

"I think I'm going to be paying this warehouse a little visit," I speak slowly to control my seething self from breaking out into a fit of rage and bitterness.

"Don't do anything stupid," she warns me.

"Heh..." I chuckle under my breath.

"ARE YOU DONE?" Papyrus asks.

I jump. He's sitting on the bench, staring at me with the biggest smile on his face.

"I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU'RE GOING ON ABOUT, OR WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO," he pauses. "I AM SLIGHTLY CONCERNED FOR YOUR SANITY. DO I NEED TO CALL A DOCTOR?"

"No," I reassure him. "I'm fine, come on."

We exit the room and head back to the dorm. I have a project to start.


	37. Chinese Food

"Uh, you sure you don't want to go out to that Chinese place?" Undyne asks me. "Or literally anywhere that isn't this silent dorm room with a plate of marmite on toast..."

"I told you," I don't look over my shoulder. "I just need to finish this formula, I won't figure out the necessary length of the rope without it."

"Urgh, that's it," she picks me up by my collar. "We're going to the Chinese place. If I have to force feed you noodles and ribs, believe me, I will."

"No- but-!" I protest.

"Nope!" She carries me out of the room. "Off we go!"

I've been working on my project for a couple weeks. Classes continued a few days ago. It's been hard, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I regret leaving that chair, but whatever, now I have something to live for. I have a warehouse to break into. She packs me into the car, all ready to go.

"OFF WE GO TO THE CHINESE PLACE!" Papyrus declares.

"Yeah," Sans grins. "I'm just _kawaiing _to try some!"

"It's Chinese!" Alphys glares. "Kawaii is Japanese!"

"I'm not an otaku," he puts his hands up defensively.

"And ONWARDS!"

Undyne jumps into the drivers seat and the car accelerates down the hill of the car park. We leave the school, fumbling to get out seatbelts on, and I keep my eyes locked on the direction of the warehouse.

"We're going to eat some Chinese food," Mettaton reminds me. "Not save the world from racist terrorists."

"Right..." I nod.

We park the car and enter the restaurant. It's a buffet, a few people walk around but it isn't too busy. We order a table for seven and put our coats on it to claim it.

"Charge!" Frisk announces and we make our way to the buffet.

I put some noodles, ribs, prawn crackers and some of those floury pancake things onto my plate along with some chopsticks. Mum had me using them before I could hold a fork. We sit back down and Sans announces

"_Bone _appetit!"

Frisk clips him around the head with the side of her hand and we begin to eat.

"You gonna take extra classes?" Alphys asks me.

"Yup," I nod.

"What're you thinking?"

"English, music, psychology-"

"Music?" She asks.

"I play the piano."

"Hey guess what I play," Sans winks, obviously getting a pun ready.

"Well obviously not the organ," Frisk grins.

His pun is stopped in its tracks by Frisk's rebound pun.

"OOOOOOOH!" Everyone exclaims.

"TAKE THAT BROTHER!" Papyrus declares.

"EAT THAT," Mettaton laughs.

"DUNKER GET DUNKED ON!" Frisk beams as the cherry on the deal with it cake.

Sans opens his mouth to speak, then shuts it.

"You got me there."

The adrenaline buzz wears off eventually and we go back to chatting.

"Girl talk," Undyne signals to Frisk, Alphys and I.

"Are you assuming my gender?" Frisk asks, mock surprise on her face.

"What gender are you then?" She asks.

"I'm a child."

Undyne breathes in, hands together up to her face, and breathes out, pointing them at Frisk.

"BOI,"

"Are you assuming my gender again?"

"FIDIQHWVJCIWHSJQIHD-"

"Uh oh," Alphys pokes Undyne. "I think she's malfunctioning."

Undyne breathes.

"Ok, _girl, wolf people and humanoid beings of our dorm room, _talk."

We lean in close.

"So," she smiles. "Alph and I were thinking, it's high time you two found love."

Frisk and I recoil in reflexive shock.

"Why?" She asks.

"Because otherwise you'll be sad, pathetic and alone."

"Wow, harsh..." she mutters.

"So, what's the verdict?" Undyne asks. "You like anyone? What gender are you into?"

"I don't like anyone," Frisk pouts.

"What's your sexuality?"

"I'm bisexual," she says. "I don't really have a preference. I dated Papyrus, I flirted with Toriel-"

"YOU FLIRTED WITH TORIEL?!" Alphys and Undyne exclaim.

"Who flirted with Toriel?" The boys' ears seem to prick up... wait... none of them even have ears...

There's an awkward silence. We huddle back together.

"What about you Yael?"

"I don't like anyone," I shrug.

"But if you did-"

"I wouldn't," I shuffle in my chair slightly. "I think I'm asexual, I dunno. Maybe I'm heterosexual and just haven't ever met someone right for me." I lean back, uncomfortable with the conversation. "I dunno, just some stuff I googled."

"I see..." Undyne ponders. "You'll be a tricky one..."

"Who wants desert?" Mettaton asks.

"ME!" The others all chime.

I'm pretty full so I just sit and watch the others helping themselves to ice cream and jelly.

"H-how, uh," I stammer to Sans. "How do you-"

"How do we eat?" He finishes my question for me. "_Magic._"

"Must be a simple solution to every question," I chuckle.

"Yeah," he grins, then tries to make me uncomfortable. "Like how we reproduce-"

"Nope nope nope."

"Ok ok," he laughs. "Wow kid, you really are an awkward one. Heh, how red did your face turn when they gave you _the talk _back when you were younger?"

I put a hand to my cheek and feel how hot it is. I scowl at him and look down at my empty plate.

"Easy now," he jokes. "We don't want you attacking anyone or something like that."

"You can't say anything," I laugh. "The very first thing you did to me when we first met was attack me and torture me for information."

"Hey," he smiles sadly. "I didn't want to do that."

"I know," I grin. "I'm just messing with you."


	38. A Car Chase

We finish up and leave. The car is just metres away when I freeze up and everyone goes silent. Alex, a woman and a couple men are approaching the restaurant.

"Get in," I hear Undyne commanding to us.

We scramble to get in the car, the anime fish pushing at our heels.

"Come on!"

She shoves us all into the car and accelerates out of the car park before anyone gets a chance to so much as sit down. I loose my footing and end up curled in the corner on the floor pressed up next to Sans. Alphys scrambles to strap herself into the passenger seat with Frisk while Mettaton and Papyrus are tangled on the back seats. There's the sounds of a car behind us and shouts confirm that we're being tailed. Undyne takes a sharp left and we all lurch to the side. My head is almost smashed onto the seat next to me, but Sans grabs me and holds me safely.

"Careful," he warns me, right before another turn sends his skull hurtling towards the floor.

I keep it from hitting the ground and he looks up.

"Careful," I grin.

Everyone huddles close as the car veers left and right. I try my best to control my breathing as I grip like a koala to Sans's back, my fingers finding hand holds on his ribs. Suddenly, there's gunshot and I stifle in a scream as the door next to us swings open and I'm almost sent tumbling out onto the road. Sans grabs me by the collar and I hear him practically hyperventilating as much as I am. I look over, his eyes are pitch black and sweat inexplicably gathers around his skull. He yanks me protectively closer and I'm basically sitting on his lap for the majority of the journey.

"I think we lost them," Undyne says eventually. "Anyone have any clue where we are?"

"I'll have a look on my phone," Alphys pipes up.

We park in a petrol station and Undyne gets out to look at the door. I stand up, sitting on a seat, and try to catch my breath. Frisk and Alphys neaten their position up, sitting strapped into the same chair, and Mettaton gets off of Papyrus's lap. He sits in the middle, so Sans has to sit on my lap.

"You sure you don't want to sit on top?" He asks me. "I might squash you, or impale you."

"You're just skin and bones," I grin. "Only without the skin."

"Ayyyy," he winks. "Seriously though, I might be too sharp."

"Just shut up and sit down," I laugh.

Undyne secures the door enough to stay shut and she heads back to the driver seat.


	39. Planning The Attack

"We're an hour away from the school," Alphys explains.

She puts her phone up in the sat-nav space and Undyne nods.

"Alright, off we go."

She drives us back to the school without a hitch and Frisk goes with Alphys to explain our situation to someone like Miss Uraganogukam.

"You alright bro?" Sans asks Papyrus, checking his bones for cracks.

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS FINE," he declares. "NYOO HOO HOO, THAT WAS QUITE EVENTFUL!"

"You don't say," Sans chuckles.

We walk hastily inside and lock ourselves in the girls' room.

"What are we gonna do then?" Frisk asks.

I pull out my pin board full of evidence and planning.

"I've put together a plan, I have everything except for weapons to defend ourselves with."

"We've all got magic weapons," Undyne explains.

"But I don't," I flush. "And are you really counting Frisk's stick as a weapon?"

"Ok ok, we'll need to get our hands on some-"

"The weapon ceremony!" Mettaton declares.

"What?"

"The weapon ceremony! It's coming up soon! When you get your personal weapon, the one with a surprise surrounding it."

"Perfect!" Alphys grins. "When's that?"

"Exactly three days from now!" Frisk declares. "I, unlike some people, actually read the schedule! We've got one normal day, then an observation day with the ceremony on Wednesday. There's a few practise days with them before a series of dances and celebrations on the weekends."

"So that's that then," Undyne nods. "What's the plan?"

"We drive to this petrol station over here," I point to a map. "Then from there, we climb the lamp post and Sans can teleport with the rope onto the roof of the warehouse. We'll hold the other end and tie it to the hook by the bulb of the lamp. The lamp post is slightly taller than the height of that section of the roof, so- with the help of the bicycle handlebars- we can zip-line down with Sans teleporting it back and forth. Eventually, one of us stays put to guard the rope while the rest of us go in. We'll need a couple of us to take multiple people, but they don't outnumber us by too much. I want to kill Alex."

"Kill?" Mettaton asks.

"He's on so many wanted lists now that they'll hardly be able to argue against me," I shrug. "We'll tie up and/or incapacitate them, but Alex has to die."

"You sure you want to kill-" Frisk starts.

"He killed so many innocent people, he killed Wynn, I nearly killed myself, I think everyone's over death."

There's a grim silence.

"Just," Sans breathes. "Be careful, ok?"

I nod. The next day goes off without a hitch. Last lesson seems to be lasting forever.

"And what Mr Notarin has forgotten is our first rule which was," she waits for people to answer her. "Alphys."

"Uh," Alphys flushes from being unexpectedly chosen. "The first rule of lying is deceiving them with the truth."

"Perfect," Miss Azamuku smiles. "And so instead of pretending to have liked the jumper, he should've told the lady something along the lines of 'it's really warm and it fits perfectly,' that way, you're not even actually lying. You can all pack up now. Remember to practise for next week, we'll be moving on to bigger lies like denying your association with luggage and other things like that."

We pack up and I leave the room with Alphys. Frisk joins us. We spot a boy leaning against the wall in the corridor of our dorm.

"That's what I mean!" Frisk whispers to Alphys. "I dunno what it is, he's just always edgy!"

The boy smiles at Frisk.

"Hey baby."

"YOU WILL NOT SEDUCE ME!" Frisk slaps him across the face with the umbrella in her hand.

He falls to the ground and we walk past him, into the dorm.

"Why do you carry an umbrella around in the middle of summer?" Alphys asks.

"Exactly that reason," she grins and indicates to the direction of the boy.

We sit inside for a while.

"Why is there an unconscious boy lying at the foot of the ladder?" Undyne calls up.

"He tried to hit on me," Frisk explains. "So I hit him back."

"Right..."

We finish up and head to bed. I check my phone.

_Grandma: How are you doing Yael?_

_Grandma: Yael?_

_Grandma: I love you and I hope you're ok. xxx_

_Yael: I'm doing well now Gran. _

_Grandma: Yael! You worried me so much! I'm so glad you're alright. _

_Yael: My friends are helping me get through it. _

_Grandma: Did you find out who was behind the attack? _

_Yael: Yeah, we're making a plan to take him down. _

_Grandma: Kick his ass!_

_Yael: Gran!_

_Grandma: What?_

_Yael: ..._

_Yael: You're cooler than I am. _

_Grandma: Aw thanks! I love you!_

_Yael: I love you too! Bye. xxx_

The next day consists of nothing but running around, twiddling sticks around, throwing stones and launching spears. It's difficult to explain, so instead, I'll add a series of quotes from across the day.

"Make sure to lean in when you throw it Samual! Wait- that's too far-"

"What the hell Samual, you look like a turtle that got stuck."

"Shut up! Uh... can you help me?"

"Good one Undyne! Now go in for the chest when she lets her guard down!"

"Urh, you- uh, you're very *huff* strong..."

"Thanks Frisk!"

"I- *oof*"

"Nice one Undyne!"

"Is Frisk dead?"

"Just give her a poke."

"Frisk?"

"Is she alright?"

"She- aaaand she's asleep."

"Honestly, you'd think we're working you too hard."

"Yeeeah..."

"Oh no you don't kiddo."

"Yes... I... do..."

"Nope, you'll get tired before you lay a hit on me. Although, you've got a _skele_ton of determination."

"Sans I swear to-"

"Ah-"

"Ahah! I got you!"

"Oh you'll pay for that. You're gonna have a bad time."

"A furry bad time?"

"Was that a pun on very?"

"Yup."

"Only with the inclusion of your ears?"

"Yup."

"You're hopeless."

"At least I have any sort of hair at all."

"Yup, one bad time coming right up."

"SCOOBY DOOBY DOO!"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Why are you singing the scooby doo song? Get back to work-"

"WE'VE GOT SOME WORK TO DO NOW!"

"Oh my-"

Soon enough, we wake up on the day of the ceremony.


	40. The Weapons Ceremony

"Yaelypops," Frisk calls.

"What?" I groan.

"It's ceremony day."

"Yeah?"

"You know what that means..."

"..."

"..."

"No..."

"Yes..."

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"GET BACK HERE YAELYPOPS!"

I sprint out of my bed but Frisk catches me by my collar. I let out a yelp and they tie me down with ribbons, ties and underwear. I'm sitting trapped on a chair while they poke around my wardrobe.

"It needs to allow movement," Alphys tells everyone. "This is a weapons ceremony, remember."

"Look!" Undyne exclaims and pulls out something.

As soon as I know it, I'm sitting in an outfit with a grey shirt. It looks normal enough, but it has a skirt.

"It's not the end of the world," Frisk keeps smirking. "I'm gonna be wearing a skirt too."

"I just-" I don't have a good excuse and so I scowl to make up for it.

I showered yesterday night so my hair sits nicely on my shoulders without much hassle. I tie it into two plaits beside my ears and sit on my feet with a wagging tail while the others fuss around. Undyne puts on a black shirt and some jeans, Alphys wears a shirt and a pair of shorts underneath her lab coat while Frisk wears a t-shirt with short sleeves reading '_pls pet dog' _and a black skirt. They brush their hair and we all head down to the training room. Papyrus, Sans and Mettaton meet us along the way. Papyrus is wearing his cool dude shirt and shorts, Mettaton can't really change his clothes but he has a headband around his hair and Sans is wearing a white turtleneck with black basketball shorts. We hurry to the hall and sit down on the seats laid out for us. I end up sandwiched between Frisk and Sans.

"Welcome, welcome all," Miss Kubara says with her ever present smile. "You are all gathered here today to celebrate the weapon which has found itself suited for you. I'm sure you're all extremely excited for the surprise regarding the weapons," she beams out, looking over all of our unexcited faces. "Well, let me tell you a story. Centuries ago, humans were very magical beings. However, this power has been lost to time, or so we thought. Dystopian Prep, the very school you're standing in, has managed to achieve the unachievable. We have rediscovered traces of our magic and put them into practise enough to allow the entire school to run on it. The surprise regarding your weapons is that after the ceremony, you will be able to summon them by means of magic. It will be unique to each of you. We don't know how it'll be for you, you'll have to figure out how to do it on your own. I'm sure that some of you will have it ready and polished by tomorrow morning, others will take maybe even years to find it out. In this ceremony, you will each stand up as you are called by your nicknames, pick up this staff and wave it above your head in a clockwise motion. Your weapon will select you from there. When you put it away, you must figure out how to summon it in order to take it out again. We offer after school classes to aid you in figuring out your summoning charm. Shall we get started?" Silence. "Wonderful!"

She calls out the first name.

"Inesk!"

Margret (a girl nicknamed Inesk deprived from inescapable) walks slowly up to the front. I think she was friends with some of the people who died in the attack, so I guess I relate a little to her. She picks up the staff and spins it in the clockwise motion we learnt yesterday above her head. Green smoke begins to rise out of it. It surrounds the staff and creates a huge cloud of the colour above her. She pulls the staff out but it's no longer a staff, it's a pair of lime coloured nunchucks. She twiddles them around and smiles.

"Marvellous!" Miss Kubara claps with glee. "Doe!"

The rest of the ceremony unfolds, we're each called out one by one.

"Scientist!"

Alphys walks nervously up and picks up the staff. I can hear the click of her claws against the material. A turquoise colour fills the air and the staff transforms neatly into a crossbow.

"Star!"

Mettaton smiles at the crowd and takes to the stage. He spins the staff around- pink smoke flooding the room- and pulls out a chainsaw. He chuckles and returns to his seat.

"I understand that Warrior, Comedian and Enthusiast already have their attacks sorted, would they like to come up and pretend to do it anyway?"

Undyne grins, Sans shrugs and Papyrus nods energetically. They walk up to the staff and hold it together. Yellow, blue and red smoke begins to rise. They pull out their regular weapons- a spear for Undyne, a floating skull looking thing for Sans and a blue bone for Papyrus- and then go back to their seats.

"Determined!"

Frisk hops excitedly up to the front and twirls the staff above her head. Purple smoke fills the room and she pulls out a silver katana.

"Dryad!"

I stand up shakily from my chair and step over to the stage, my tail curling nervously under my skirt. The staff sits there on the table and I pick it up. I raise it above my head, taking a moment to think about which way is clockwise and which way is anti-clockwise, and spin it around in circles. Thick, black smoke fills the air and I feel the staff transforming. I pull it down and I'm slightly breath-taken at the enormously large black scythe, accented with green and bending in decorative ways near the hilt, (like the one in owari no seraph.) A spike tops the end and- you know what? Just google the one in owari no seraph and that'll save me a lot of explaining. I lower the hefty thing and admire the curved blade. It's stunning. I put it back on the table and it shrinks back into a plain staff. I walk hastily back to my seat and wait with excited toes and twitchy ears until the ceremony is over. We bustle out and head over to the boys' dormitory.


	41. Yaelnapped

"That was awesome!" Undyne exclaims.

"That sword was way better than a stick!" Frisk declares.

"We need to practise!" Mettaton announces.

"Alright alright," Sans grins. "Howzabout those of us who know how to try and teach you all how to summon it?"

"YES!"

"NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus beams. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE THE BEST TEACHER!"

We practise for a few hours, Frisk and Alphys manage to do it while Mettaton and I struggle.

"You've got to think strategically," Alphys explains. "What links with you? I have to tap out 'A' in morse code on my palm before I can do it, that's because I've been studying science and codes and stuff my entire life."

"Yeah," Frisk agrees. "And I have to use my stick."

She takes out her stick and twirls it until she's twirling a moonlit katana.

"It's so impressive," I tell her.

"Says you!" She laughs. "I was here with my katana and then you came out with this massive scythe thingy, like, I think everyone in the room was in awe."

I chuckle, not knowing how to take the compliment, and we decide to head to bed. We wave Mettaton and the Skelebros goodbye before heading to bed. I can't sleep. I lie awake at around midnight, staring up at the ceiling. I decide there's only one thing for it. I tiptoe out of the room in a black hoodie over a shirt and jeans and make a silent beeline for my destination. I'm standing barefoot on the roof, my hair being tugged and licked by the cold night air, and I try to summon my weapon. I have no clue how to do it. I try clapping, I try swishing, I try blowing on my hands. Nothing works. Something specific to me... but what could that-

I get a thought and pull out my pocket knife. I open a cut on my wrist and let a drop of blood fall onto my palm. I focus on it and sure enough, the blood turns black and expands into my scythe. I hold it with two hands. It's relatively heavy, the weight of the blade succeeding that of the handle, and I spin it around my body. The unbalanced weight allows me to spin it very successfully. I practise striking with it, running with it, defending with it and twirling it around my body like the ribbon of a gymnast in the circus. When I decide that I've done enough, I put the scythe away. It sort of comes naturally; just an intentional flick of the hand or swish of the thumb and it dissipates into the air. The scar on my wrist disappears. I smile. The sun is just barely visible on the horizon, beginning to ascend. I sit down and watch it, my tail wagging contently. I must've passed out or something because I'm asleep before I know it. I wake up and I know something's not right even before I'm fully conscious. There's a blindfold over my eyes and a strip of duct tape across my mouth. My wrists and legs are bound to a chair and a cold breeze shuffles the hood of my hoodie. I try not to freak out, instead I pretend to still be unconscious while listening out.

"And then we'll-" I hear muffled chatter from a different room.

Someone touches my neck and I forget everything, freaking out.

"She's awake," a gruff man calls out from behind me.

"Is she?" Someone calls back.

"Yeah, should I inject her again?"

"No, I think we're ready."

Footsteps approach me and lift my blindfold off.

"Hello," a boy about my age with a cockney accent says. "You're Yael, yeah?"

I don't give any form of reply.

"Well, we couldn't help but notice that you're getting all too caught up in our business, you see the problem?"

I shuffle in the chair and try to break my bounds.

"Stop struggling," he folds his arms. "Those bounds are very tight. You'll only hurt yourself and I want to save that for later."

I stop reluctantly and glare at him.

"Heh," he chuckles. "Intrigued eh? Well why don't we start now? My pal Alex told me I could rough you up as much as I want, but to save the killing for him. It's a shame, I wouldn't mind being the last thing you see. Oh well. Now, let me grab some tools."

He leaves the room. I look around. A lady sits staring at some documents. She notices me looking at her and narrows her eyes coldly. I look away. Two men sit on the other side of the room discussing something with low voices. I can hear more people outside of the room. The boy comes back into the room with a handful of equipment. He smiles slightly.

"I'm Jax by the way."

He takes a strip of sandpaper with a wooden block to support it.

"Friction is a marvellous thing isn't it?"

He unbuttons my jeans and smirks when I fight him.

"Oh calm down you innocent snowflake."

He exposes my thighs and begins to rub the sandpaper against one of them. I wince. He doesn't stop. He rubs away at my thigh until there's a raw, red patch. He flicks it with his hand and I squeak. It hurts like hell. He picks up a leather belt and strikes it over the raw wound. I let out a yelp and it only adds fuel to his fire. He hits me again and again until the wound bleeds. I screw my eyelids shut and tears threaten to spill out of them. He kneels down and picks through his tools after buttoning my jeans back up. I manage to kick him in the skull. He stands up, fuming with rage- and punches me across the face. His knuckles hit my cheekbone and a bruise begins to form.

"Don't do it again."

He kneels down once more and picks up a large knife. He chuckles to himself and rips the duct tape off of my mouth. I grimace.

"Ready?"

Instead of waiting for a reply, he begins to sink the knife into my shoulder. He opens a few cuts and drags the knife around my neck. I gasp and grit my teeth, biting my tongue to stop me from screaming. He cuts a line above my eyebrow. Blood trickles down into my eye. I keep it shut. A desperate moment of thinking takes over me and I focus on my blood. It turns black and forms my scythe. I take it in my mouth and slice the ropes binding my arms. I free my legs as well and stand up with the scythe. The two men, the woman and Jax all rush over with various weapons. I cut Jax in the knees, sending him falling to the ground. I dodge the lady's katana and defend myself from a man's knife. I rush past them, knocking over the lady (half due to my skills with the scythe and half due to the insanely high heels she's wearing) and injure one of the men. I sprint towards the open door and jump out of it. I teeter on the edge of a platform on the first floor of the warehouse before spinning on my heels and rushing down the stairs. Three other men yell to each other and run towards me. One of them pulls out a sword and there's the sound of clashing metal as I defend his strike with my scythe. This thing is insane, like it's bound to me or something. I run with the scythe neatly in my hands, limping slightly because of the scar on my thigh, and fight the men. The battle should be unfair- what with three fully grown men and one wolf-human hybrid teenage girl- but it's quite evenly matched. After about ten minutes of slashing and dodging, I slip through an open door and lock it. The men pound on the metal and I pace around. What do I do? Come on Yael. Think! Argh! Stupid brain! Why can't I-

I know what I have to do. I grab the chalk from my pocket and draw a hasty circle on the ground. I shut my eyes and concentrate deeply. After two minutes of desperately trying to ignore the men ramming into the door, a cold chill fills the room. A purple glow resonates within the circle. Kassandra steps out and opens her mouth, before closing it slowly.

"I'm at the warehouse," I explain to her. "I- I need help. I don't want to put people in danger, but I'll die if nothing happens."

"Gotcha," she nods and teleports away.

It sounds like the men have almost broken in, so I make my scythe disappear- removing the scar on my forehead, though the blood stays- and run to the next door. I slam it open and burst through it. I run straight into Alex.


	42. Help Me

"Eager?" He asks with a malice smile.

I open my mouth but he slams me into the wall and drags me across the room with a gun to my head.

"I killed your friend didn't I?" He asks. "Yes, I remember it. You know, it was almost sweet when you screamed his name. Oh well, now you'll scream twice as loud when I shoot you in the head."

I whimper silently as he holds my head up to the sunlight, flicking my ears impatiently with an unforgiving finger.

"Take your last look at the sun, because you're never going to see it again. You know, you really are just a failed experiment. An abomination to the human race. A freak. Are you ready? Don't say anything, it doesn't matter."

He puts his finger on the trigger and I brace myself. There's a flash of bright light and Alex exclaims out. I stumble back and watch Sans running towards me. The sound of gunshot rings out and there's a sharp pain in my chest. I fall to my knees and yell out. Sans fights Alex for a bit before lifting him up with blue magic and throwing him against the wall. I limp over to Alex, using the blood from my wound to summon my scythe. I stare at him with cold eyes and raise the blade. He has to pay. He has to. Just as I'm about to bring the weapon down and slice him the hell in half, Sans sends me flying backwards towards him with blue magic. He lifts me up in his arms and locks the warehouse with all the men, women, Cockney boys and traitorous kids with guns trapped inside.

"Stop!" I choke. "I was going to- I could've- please- let me kill him!"

"Forget about him dying," he tells me firmly. "If I don't get you to a hospital soon, you might be the one dying."

A strange feeling fills my body and I find myself in a white room. Sans jogs- with me still in his arms- and people rush towards us, lifting me up. A cold, sharp point pierces my skin and as soon as I know it, a sleeping chemical rushes through my veins and knocks me out. I wake up in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around my chest.

"What-" I mutter.

"He shot you," Sans's voice comes from beside me. "They're still patching you up, they just went to get some more bandages."

There's a deafening silence.

"Did they come into your room to take you?" He asks.

"No," I shake my head. "I, uh... I fell asleep on the roof..."

He pauses, blinks, then lowers his non-existent eyebrows at me.

"Really kiddo?" He smiles sadly. "What... what else did they do to you?"

"They cut my neck, bruised my face and sandpapered my thigh."

"Sandpapered?"

"Yup."

"I wish I killed them all..."

"Hey," I grimace. "It's ok-"

"How can you say that?" He shuts his eyes.

"Hm?"

"You were just tortured and shot," he points out. "And you're trying to tell me that everything's ok?" He stands up and walks over. "Look at yourself!"

He begins to take my hoodie off, exposing the cuts on my neck, then my jeans, then he tugs at my shirt. I manage to hide my wrist in the blankets and he goes on talking.

"It hurts," he hugs me tightly, so much that the bullet wound feels like fire under his grasp. "It hurts so bad, watching you suffer like this. It hurts, because I- I... it hurts ok?"

He releases me and sighs before ruffling my hair.

"Just don't go falling asleep on any more roofs, you dork."

I nod, but pause at the sight of a small crack on his skull.

"Sans!" I stare at it, concerned, and trace my fingers over it. "You- you're hurt!"

"It's nothing," he shrugs. "That douche just hit me while I was fighting him. Nothing to worry about."

"But-" I look into his eyes. "You- you didn't- it's my fault- I-"

"It's not your fault," he assures me. "It'll heal up pretty quick."

"Hmph," I frown.

"Don't worry, I'll make a _cracking _recovery."

I smile faintly and a nurse walks in. She bandages up my thigh and my neck, leaving only my wrist. She leaves after talking to Sans and he turns to me.

"Wanna go home?"

"Already?"

"They said that as long as you keep changing the bandages and taking medication, you can probably stay in the school's medical wing."

"I'd like that," I nod.

He lifts me to my feet and teleports us into the medical wing. I sit down on a bed and look down at my injuries. I wonder when I'll be able to spin my scythe around. As if she read my mind, Miss Uraganogukam comes over and speaks to me.

"The good news for you is that it'll only take a week to heal you with magic. I know, incredible right?"

I nod and Sans sits down next to me.

"You must be exhausted," he rubs one of my matted ears between his bony fingers.

I nod, then pause.

"Wait- uh, you're not going to-"

"It's ok," he smiles. "I'm not going anywhere."

I relax slightly and slip under the covers of the bed. Sans slides in next to me and we lie in each other's arms. I wrap my tail around his legs.

"I figured out how to summon my weapon," I tell him after a while.

"Really?" He chuckles. "Even in a near death experience, you still manage to be productive."

I smile and eventually doze off with Sans.


	43. Putting The Pieces Together

"OMIGOSH!" The sound of fangirl squees wakes me up.

Alphys, Frisk, Papyrus, Undyne and Mettaton are prancing around us.

"You two are so cute!" Undyne grins.

"I KNEW YOU'D FIND SOMEONE TO ENTICE IN A MAZE OF PASSION WITH NO ESCAPE SOMEDAY BROTHER!" Papyrus beams.

"No-" Sans blushes bright blue. "We're not-"

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Alphys fangirls. "I SHIP IT!"

"No," Sans explains desperately. "I just stayed with her because- in case you didn't notice- she has a literal gunshot wound!"

"Right," Mettaton rolls his eyes and sighs. "Forever crushing our dreams. Whatever, I still ship it."

"Yeah!" Frisk declares. "You two are cute!"

I blush and look at the ground.

"Right," Sans narrows his eyes and shrugs. "Welp, this is awkward."

"BROTHER," Papyrus asks. "YOU HAVE A CRACK IN YOUR SKULL! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"Yeah," he grins. "I'll be fine."

"So, uh," I mutter. "What happened, like- from your point of view?"

"Well," Undyne explains. "We woke up and saw that you were gone, but we presumed that you were just exploring or something. Then that purple ghost appeared, though only Frisk, Alphys and I could see it, and told us what happened. The moment we said the word 'kidnapped,' Sans teleported off and now we come down into the hospital wing to see you two curled up together like a couple of love birds."

I frown stubbornly and she asks me

"So what happened to you?"

"I fell asleep on the roof and woke up tied to a chair," I explain. "Some guy called Jax started to torture me with knives and sandpaper-" I pause with a mixture of fright and concern at the sight of Sans's murderous expression. "Then I summoned my weapon and freed myself. I fought my way out but Alex caught me. He shot me just before Sans saved me."

"Did you say you know how to summon your weapon?" Frisk asks eagerly.

"Oh," I shrug. "Yeah, but-"

"SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME!" She gets excited.

"I don't think she's well enough to-" Mettaton starts.

"SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME!" Papyrus joins in.

I sigh, smile, and drag myself out of bed. I take my pocket knife from my pocket and cut my hand before anyone can say anything. The blood rolls into my palm and I expand it into my scythe. I twirl it around.

"Wooooooah!" Everyone exclaims with surprised pikachu faces.

"That's so cool!" Frisk gasps.

She takes out her stick and transforms it into her katana. Alphys summons her crossbow, Papyrus and Sans hold their bone attacks and Undyne takes out her spear.

"I wish I knew how to summon mine," Mettaton smiles sadly.

"WE WILL TEACH YOU!" Papyrus declares.

We spend a couple hours helping Mettaton and eventually, he summons his chainsaw by a manoeuvre which includes a fabulous leg kick. We put them away and my scar heals up. They wave me goodbye and head out. I look at a clock. It's a quarter past one.

"I forgot something," I hear Sans telling them. "I'll be right back."

He walks back into the room and stands in front of me with a stern expression.

"Care to explain why you keep a pocket knife in your jeans?" He asks coldly. "Or why your summoning charm involves shedding your own blood?"

"I-" I stutter. "It-"

"Show me your arm," he demands, holding out his hand.

"I-" I take a breath. "I'm fine."

"Then show me your arm."

"Sans-" I look down at the floor.

"Show me your arm," he raises his voice.

I nervously put my hand in his, shutting my eyes. He rolls up my sleeve in a quick motion and I can sense the wave of shock.

"K-kiddo..." his voice is uneasy.

"I know," I sigh and glare at my eyelids. "I'm a freak."

"You're not a-"

"I'm a freak!" I yell, screwing up my eyelids, tears of anger building up in the corners of my eyes.

"Listen to me," He says firmly. "You're not a freak."

"Yes I am," I try to take my hand back but he holds it tight.

"Look at me," he says softly. I open my eyes to see him staring deeply into them. "You're not a freak."

"How can you say that?" I ask desperately.

"Because I lo-" he steps closer to me. "I lo-look into your eyes and I don't see a freak, I see someone who's mistreated not by others but by herself. Even her flaws are perfect, but she's blind to how incredible she is. She-"

"Let me stop you right there," I smile sadly. "You- you can't be serious. It's nice that you want me to feel better but-"

"You really don't believe me," he looks shocked. "How- how can a person as perfect as you be so oblivious to their own... unbelievable..."

He shakes his head.

"Are you-" I stutter. "Do you actually-"

"I'm completely _sternum_," he cracks a pun.

"You-" I begin to chuckle. "You dork."

"Come here," he hugs me.

"Argh," I laugh. "The power of hugs, my weakness."

"And I'm the dork am I?" He grins.

"Yup."

We hug for a while.

"Don't think you're off the hook," he tells me, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm still getting on your case about helping you to stop."

"Urgh," I sigh. "You're so loving and caring. Damn you."

"Welp," he winks. "I've gotta get back to the others. Don't get too _bonely_."

He leaves the room and I sigh. Ugh, this gunshot wound is painful as damnit.


	44. A Bloody Issue

I spend a painful week in the medical wing before I'm allowed to change my own bandages and sleep in my own bed. Sans still has a small crack in his skull, but Undyne assures me that it'll go in another week or so. I'm walking back to the dorm, when an odd feeling sprints through my veins.

Hello.

Uh, hello? Why am I greeting myself in my mind? Is this one of Kassandra's jokes again?

Self-harm huh? I don't blame you.

I suppose I'm just being weird and thinking in the third tense. I do that sometimes.

Humanity is awful. You want to just kill everyone, destroy everything.

I can't help agreeing with myself.

You want to hurt yourself, don't you?

I do. I didn't before, but now it just feels like the right thing to do. I pull out my knife reflexively and leave deep scars on my arm. I do it in auto-pilot, by default.

Feels good.

Yeah. My mind wills me to agree with itself. I open a new cut on my palm and make my scythe. I carry it into the room and practise with it.

Just about every day, I experience this. It's almost a week later and my arm is raw with cuts. I walk down the hall from my last lesson and head up to bed. An unseen force pulls me aside and I'm standing face to face with Sans.

"I smell blood," he looks dark. "Show me your arm."

"I-" I stutter.

He thrusts me into the drying room and demands again.

"Show me your arm."

I sigh and scowl under my breath, a stubborn, rebellious feeling taking over me. Feelings like this wouldn't usually come out in this sort of situation, but now all I want to do is sit in a green hoodie sharpening a knife and eating chocolate... for some reason. My emotions kick in and overtake the feeling however. Sans rolls up my sleeve and stares at my arm with black eye sockets.

"Yael," He sighs, a pained look clouding his usually grinning face. "Stop hurting yourself. Please. Whenever I even think of you in pain, my soul hurts." He clutches the place where his heart would be and grimaces. "I don't know if there's much I can do to help, but if you think of anything, and I mean anything, then I'm here for you. I always will be."

"Sans..." I stare at him.

Usually I'm not an overly emotional person, but I feel tears beginning to burn through the emotional barrier I normally keep up to protect myself. "Why? Why do you care?" The tears start pouring down my face like a salty waterfall and my voice rises into a shout before I can stop it. "Why?! WHY DO MAKE THIS SO MUCH HARDER FOR ME?! Why can't you just stop trying?" I whisper, burying my face in my hands. "Just give up on me... I'm hopeless... a lost cause. Trying will only hurt you."

"I don't care!" He shouts, his eyes turning black and his fists becoming balled in frustration. "Did you think I would care how much this might hurt me? Sure, it might be unbearable at times, but it would never push me to extremes you go to... I would never resort to harming myself... I could never do that to the people around me."

"You're making me sound like I'm selfish now." I say through sobs, chuckling feebly.

"Damn right you are." He hisses.

He sighs and walks over to me, putting one boney hand on my shoulder.

"I may never understand your reasoning, but I still care for you. And hell no! I will never stop trying to help you."

He pulls me into him and I let myself cry softly into his chest. I slowly breathe in the smell of his jacket. It smells of freshly mowed grass and rain... a fresh smell that makes my senses tingle with familiarity. I feel something wet fall onto my head and look up at Sans. Somehow, there are blue, glowing tears falling slowly out of his empty sockets, down his skull and onto my head.

"I told you I would just hurt you." I say, wincing at the expression on his face.

"I know." He whispers. "Just be here. Just for now."

We sit in each others arms for who knows how long when Sans's grip suddenly loosens on me. I slip a glance at his face and see that he's sleeping. He looks like hell. There are tear streaks on his skull and wet patches where I have cried on all over his hoodie, not to mention the slight crack in his skull. I must have really tired him out. Well, maybe not that much, he is generally tired all the time. I gently lift his arms off me and duck out from underneath them. I somehow manage to pull him to his dorm. The sight of the slightly familiar door makes me cringe as I remember Wynn's face peering out at me as I asked if he would like to explore with me... all of that seems like years ago. The door is locked. I dig in Sans's jacket pocket and eventually find the key. I have to struggle with the lock for about five minutes, cursing at the key several times, before I hear a click and open the door. Papy isn't here, so I don't need to explain this to him, good. I place Sans on one of the three beds, trying not to guess wich one was Wynn's, and take off his jacket before pulling the duvet cover over him. I smile at how carefree and innocent he looks whilst sleeping and stroke his skull gently before turning to leave.

"Wanna ketchup?" Sans mumbles and I freeze.

Did he notice me stroking his skull? Jeez, that's REALLY embarrassing. I jump as he snorts in his sleep. He makes puns in his sleep... hah. I couldn't expect much less, could I? I shut the door behind me and slide the key through the gap under the door before going back to my own dorm. There's still no one here. I sigh and flop onto my bed. My arms ache from carrying Sans, my head pounds and my stomach begs me to feed it, but I'm too tired to care and fall asleep within moments of lying down in my bed fully clothed.


	45. Schythe Meets Katana

"Wake up sleepy head," Undyne waves at me the next morning.

_Kill her. _

The voice in my head commands. I shrug it out of my mind and smile.

"Heya Fish Face."

"Get up dork," she rolls her eyes, hiding a smile.

I grab my hairbrush and brush my hair, tying it into a plait. I get changed into a shirt and jeans under my covers and look at Undyne. Without warning, she bundles me up in my duvet and lifts me out of the room. I let out a yelp and struggle with her. She takes me to the boys' room and dumps me on the floor. I break free of the blanket and lie staring up at everyone.

"HELLO!" Papyrus beams.

"Hiya," I sigh tiredly.

"So," Frisk announces. "We're gonna be playing some games. SANS!"

Sans grins and takes out a bottle, putting it on the floor.

"SPIN THE KETCHUP BOTTLE!"

I shuffle to the space next to Alphys and Sans and we all sit in a circle before he spins the bottle. It lands on Papyrus.

"Ok Papy, who do you love more: me, or pasta?"

"I-" Papyrus sweats nervously. "UH... IS IT HOT IN HERE OR IS IT JUST ME?"

"It's you," Mettaton winks. "You're the hot one."

Sans glares at Mettaton and Papyrus continues.

"WELL... I LOVE EATING PASTA BUT I DON'T LOVE EATING MY BROTHER BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE CANNIBALISM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS THINKS OF A SOLUTION!"

He spins the ketchup bottle and it lands on Undyne.

"UNDYNE! NYEH HEH HEH! TELL US, HOW DID YOU BECOME SO COOL?"

"I watch a lot of anime," she grins.

She spins the bottle. It lands on Mettaton.

"Metta! Who's a bigger star: Papyrus, or yourself?"

"Well," Mettaton crosses his legs. "It depends darling. I'm a movie star, but Papyrus here is a human capturing star. I suppose my nickname _is _Star, so that's what I'm going for!"

He spins the bottle. It lands on Frisk.

"Frisk! Who do you like?"

"Eros love?" She asks cheekily. "Agape love? Filos love? Storge love? Well, I like Toriel and Asgore as parents, so that's storge love. I like you guys as friends, which is filos love."

"You get away this time," Mettaton sighs.

Frisk spins the bottle. It lands right in between Sans and I.

"Double whammy!" She declares. "You'll have to give your answers at the same time! So, what's your biggest secret?"

Well I'm not about to blurt out the fact that I cut myself on a daily basis, so I go for the next best thing. Here goes nothing...

"I'm a masochist!" I shut my eyes and shout just as Sans shouts

"I'm a sadist!"

There's a moment of awkward silence.

"Oh... my... gosh..." Frisk says after a while. "You two are made for each other! Like- literally!"

I bury my face in my jacket, hiding the strong blush that covers it. Everyone giggles and fangirls about our matching freaky personalities. Nononononononononononono... WHY?! Sans looks just as embarrassed as I do.

"Go on Sans!" Undyne jokes. "Hit her or something, then you'll both get off to it!"

"UNDYNE!" We both glare.

"What?" She smirks. "I'm just stating the facts!"

"Hmph..." I stand up and walk briskly out of the room to give myself some air.

Urgh great, now my mind is subconsciously creating sick little fantasies.

_Kill them all. _

Uh, a little bit overkill Yael?

_All of them. _

Sans steps out of the room and walks past, waving and trying to smile behind his blush.

_Ugh, that comedian..._

I- I don't really know what to think-

_Stab him. _

What? No-

_STAB HIM THROUGH THE CHEST AND MAKE HIM BLEED OUT. MAKE SNOW ANGELS IN HIS DUST. _

What the hell?! Why am I thinking like this?

The voices become so loud that I crouch against the wall with my hands against my ears and my eyes screwed shut.

"Yael?" I hear Frisk's voice. "Are you alright?"

I let out a choking noise and a dark voice escapes my throat.

"_Leave me..."_

"Y-Yael?"

"_Shouldn't you be playing dolls with my traitor freaking brother?"_

I stand, frightened and hurting, as this voice escapes my lungs.

"Chara," Frisk glares. "Leave her alone."

"_Maybe you should've done the same to me when we were about to wipe out the underground..."_

"I abandoned that run for a reason," Frisk shouts angrily. "You can't just possess anyone who deems useful to you!"

"_I don't think you're in any place to stop me."_

"Get out!" She yells, taking out her stick and turning it katana.

Without the ability to control myself, I slice my hand and pull out my scythe.

"What the hell am I doi-" I start with a shaky voice.

"_Shut up!" _The voice from my body snaps.

I strike at her with my scythe and she blocks it.

"Chara!" She hisses. "Get out!"

We clash blades for a while, moving closer and closer to the roof staircase. I leap up the stairs and stand on the roof. What if I push Frisk off? Why am I doing this? Who's Chara?!

"You don't have to fight!" Frisk glares.

"_What? Are you afraid? Are you going to go get that pathetic comedian or something? Hah, remember how many times he killed us?"_

"This isn't about Sans! I know you're afraid of him, but-"

"_Afraid?! Why would I be afraid of that apathetic piece of idiocy?!"_

"That's not the point!" She sounds desperate. "Look, I didn't want to replace you or anything, hell, I never would've met you had I not got off on a bad start and triggered a genocide run, I understand how awful you must feel-"

"_Everyone forgot about me! Mum! Dad! Asriel!"_

"No one's forgotten about you! Mum and Dad are still mourning you and Asriel turned Flowey misses you! Asriel wouldn't want this!"

"_Asriel made his choice! Had it not been for his cowardice, we would be free, together!" _

"Asriel died for you! He-"

Just as she starts to say that, I swing at her and she's thrown to the edge of the roof. She grips on with her hands and looks up at me with a terrified expression.

"Asriel cared so much about you, that he went up and died a painful death just so that you could get what you wanted!"

"_But- but he resisted! He-"_

"He doesn't want violence, he wouldn't want you to do this! All he wanted was you! He never cared about destruction or anything, just the bond you two had! He died just to prevent you from violence, wouldn't it make sense to honour his wishes?"

"_He- I-" _the voice sounds tearful. "_I just- I miss him- I-"_

A feeling which is that of a cold shockwave passing through my body jumps through my stomach. I fall into my knees and tears roll down my cheeks.

"Chara ran away," Frisk mutters something to herself in faint happiness. "Uh, help?"

I look down and pull Frisk up.

"I'm so sorry- I don't know what-"

"It's ok," she reassures me. "I know what it feels like to be possessed by her." She pauses. "That fight must be hell for your gunshot wound."

"It's healing up," I shrug.

We walk inside and I head down to the girls changing room.


	46. No Reply

"Kassandra?" I ask.

"Hello Yael," her voice comes from behind me.

I turn around.

"Hey, uh, have you ever heard of anyone called Chara?"

"I don't recognise the name," she purses her lips. "Is she a human?"

"A ghost," I explain.

"Invisible or visible?"

"Invisible."

"I see," she pauses. "Well, I can't say I haven't felt any presence of anything around here. Invisible ghosts are much harder to sense than visible ones."

"Ok," I pause. "But why can I see you and not her?"

"Visible ghosts have souls, invisible ghosts don't," she shrugs. "That's why I could never possess you like an invisible ghost can; you don't have space for two souls."

"Ok," I nod.

"Is it true that you're a masochist?" She asks slyly, turning around in the air.

"How'd you-" I flush.

"Word gets around," she winks.

"I should get to the dorm," I tell her. "I have weapons practise in the afternoon."

"Ok, ok," she winks. "Tell that Sansy fella that I said hi."

"Right," I lower my eyebrows at her mischievous grin before leaving the room to get changed.

I put on a black and white striped shirt with long sleeves over a pair of black tracksuits. I walk down to the training hall and meet Alphys, Frisk, Undyne, Mettaton and Papyrus; Sans is nowhere in sight.

"KNOWING HIM," Papyrus sighs. "HE'S PROBABLY SLACKING OFF SOMEWHERE!"

"Not that he needs extra training," Frisk's face looks glum and reminiscent, perhaps she's remembering something which I don't know because she hasn't told me and I'm not a psychic. Now there's a thought.

"Meh," Undyne shrugs. "It beats me. Ooh! I think they're starting."

The session begins and after some trying stretches, we take out our weapons and begin the exercise. Sans doesn't show up. We're on the very last activity, my scythe is clanging with Papyrus's bone attack, and the alarm finally goes off to signify the end. We shake hands and mop our foreheads, our weapons dissipating into the air.

"Do you wanna go grab a snack?" Undyne asks me.

"I-" I realise how hungry I am. "Wait a sec, damn," I chuckle quietly. "I don't think I've eaten in days."

"What?!" She looks genuinely confused. "How do you just forget to eat? Have you just been numb to how much your stomach hurts?"

"I guess," I shrug.

We set off into the dining room. It must be something to do with Chara that brought on this weird numbness to hunger. Oh well, I can feel the pain now. I grab a sandwich off of the shelf and drop some change onto the counter. I wonder where Sans is. Maybe he's asleep. Who knows? I finish my sandwich and head to the dorms to search for him. He isn't in any of them. I search the drying room, I search the changing rooms, I scour the entire fifth year floor but he's nowhere to be found. I begin to panic.

"U-Undyne? Have you seen Sans?"

"No," she grins. "Why?"

"It's just," I flush. "I haven't seen him anywhere and I'm just getting a bit worried..."

"Alright, alright," she smiles. "I'll start a search party."

She walks off and I continue to look for Sans. He's not in his room. He's not in the drying room. He's not in the training hall. He's not on the roof. He's not in the changing rooms.

"Car, now." Undyne says darkly, grabbing my arm.

"W-what?" I ask. "What hap-"

"Car!"

We rush off to the car and Undyne takes the wheel, Alphys in the passenger seat, Mettaton, Papyrus and Frisk in the back seats and me in one of those extra seats you get in the boot sometimes. She accelerates out of the school car park and I speak up.

"Can anyone tell me why we're driving at full speed down the road?"

"He's been taken," Frisk says with a murderous tone. "We messaged him a pun, he didn't message back the punchline."

"But what does that-" I start.

"HE ALWAYS MESSAGES BACK THE PUNCHLINE," Papyrus glares. "THIS CAN MEAN ONLY ONE THING- HE'S IN TROUBLE!"

At the sound of the last word, Undyne speeds up the car even more. She drives straight past the warehouse.

"Wouldn't he be in-" I begin to speak.

"No," she cuts me off. "They won't make the same mistake twice. There's only one other creepy abandoned warehouse in town."

"But-"

"NO BUTS!"

We drive the rest of the way in silence.


	47. The AME

When the car finally slides to a halt, Undyne slams open the door and everyone follows. We're standing in front of an even more intimidating warehouse shrouded in fog and ivy.

"Up there, on the roof," Mettaton points.

We walk briskly to the tree line of the forest next to it and climb up with ease into the roof. When everyone's up here, we slide in through a broken skylight window and get our weapons out.

"The corridors leading to the main hall are too narrow," Frisk explains. "We couldn't stay hidden if we tried."

Putting stealth out the window, we charge in separate directions around the building. I sprint past a man, knocking the gun out of his hands with my scythe, and continue on. I scour the maze of passage ways and doors, fighting when necessary. I see movement in front of me and strike at it. My blade clangs against Frisk's.

"Oh, hi," I lower my weapon.

"Hey," she replies. "Any luck?"

I shake my head.

"Ok," she smiles grimly. "See you later."

I wave and we go our separate ways. I rattle every door. They're all locked. Still, I try. Locked. Locked. Locked. Locked. Locked. Locked. Lo-

I let out a hiss as I stumble through an unlocked door. Something jumps up and slams the door shut behind me, locking it. I swing at them, but they dodge and sit back down in front of me. I look up. My eyes go wide.

"It's so wonderful to see you," Miss Kubara beams.

She's sitting with Sans next to her. He's tied up, gagged and with her knife to his neck.

"Your friend here was barely gone for fifteen minutes before you came running into my trap! Hah," she chuckles. "You know, I never did understand how utterly dedicated you all are to each other. You got that crack in your skull when you were rescuing her not so long ago, did you not?" She turns to Sans. "Yes, well, I've eliminated Alex now- he really was too arrogant- and Jax survived by the skin of his teeth." She smiles at me. "The A.M.E is a zero tolerance establishment, a two strike kind of basis. Alex got his first strike when he went and got himself expelled, stupid boy. Boys are a bit like that, aren't they?" She nudges Sans. "Your freak-show friend here got himself kidnapped when he walked right into my office and in turn, my hands. You know, I believe he was there on your account... yes, that's right. He was babbling something about self harm and suicide watch." She laughs. "This one sure is a worrier!"

Sans is looking sadly at me with pitch black eye sockets. Why can't he just teleport? What's wrong?

"Ah," Miss Kubara reads my expression. "You see, the A.M.E figured out that if you tire a freak enough, they tend to get too exhausted to bend the laws of time and space. Isn't that right?" She looks at Sans, nudging the array of scars and cracks lining his body. "It only took four hits with the handle of my old axe back in the office to get him unconscious. I wonder now, will you and your friends be just as weak?" She chuckles darkly. "I knew you'd all come running, that's the tendencies with people like you freaks, you-"

I swiftly bring the blade of my scythe through her chest.

"Rule one of being a successful villain," I tell her coldly. "Save the monologuing for when said protagonist is dead."

"Uckhh-" she chokes, her eyes wide as coasters. "Y-you-"

I remove the blade, twisting it slightly due to the curve of it, and watch her darkly. Blood stains her shirt, creeping quickly across the material, staining it red. The light drains from her eyes as the blood drains from her chest. I go to slit her throat for good measure. A bone appears in front of it. I turn and remove Sans's gag.

"Don't bother," he tells me, taking my hand away from her neck. "She's not waking up any time soon, and by soon I mean she's very dead."

I grunt quietly and cut Sans free of the rope tying him up. My scythe disappears into the air.

"I'm ok-" he starts.

I put a hand on his skull and trace it over the wounds. I stare darkly.

"I should've made her death slower," I whisper. "I should've cut off her limbs and penetrated her stomach with the blunt end of my scythe. Then I-"

"Then you'd be proving her right about us monsters," he stops me.

I sigh.

"Come on."

We jog out of the room and go to round up the others.

"Are you mad at me for going to her about your mental health?" He asks after a while.

"You could've died," I growl. "I'm not worth dying for."

"Yes you are," He flushes, his face turning blue. "Can't you see? You're kind and cute and smart and beautiful-"

"What do you mean?"

"Haha," he rolls his eyes. "Very funny. Really?" He scoffs. "Acting like you don't know your own beauty..."

"What are you talking about?" I chuckle. "Me? Pretty? You're kidding."

"You're actually blind..." he sighs.

"Hey!" I glare. "I still don't know what you're talking about, but-"

"Isn't it obvious?" He laughs. "I love you."

My mouth falls open in shock.

"You-" I stutter.

"Yup," he smiles and blushes.

"I- like you too."

"Is that so?"

"It's just-" I start. "You're nice and I think you're nice but it's just that I know I'm not and I ruled out the possibility of you liking me and I kinda had no idea that you did and I kinda ignored the feeling andIsupposewhenIputitthatwayitsoundsabitweirdlikekindofyandereweirdandI-"

He presses his lips against mine and I freeze. I'm stopped mid-flustered sentence as his face melts against mine. I return the kiss shyly and feel a tongue against mine. He's mentioned briefly before that skeletons can summon body parts like a tongue in order to partake in things like kissing. I never imagined this could feel so nice. He finally lifts his face away from mine and smiles at me. He opens his mouth to say something (undoubtedly sickeningly sweet) but we jump at the sound of enthusiastic clapping. We whip our heads around to see Undyne, Mettaton, Frisk, Alphys and Papyrus applauding us smugly.

"What did I tell you?" Frisk beams. "You two are made for each other! MADE FOR EACH OTHER!"

"Does this mean that you're finally going out?" Mettaton asks eagerly.

"YAY!" Papyrus claps. "CONGRATULATIONS BROTHER! YOU ARE NO LONGER SAD PATHETIC AND ALONE!"

Undyne sniggers and Sans glares. His face is bright blue and I'm certain that mine is red as a sunburnt tomato.

"Let's get out of here," Alphys says. "I don't think the A.M.E will be trying any antics soon."

"Did you kill them?" I ask.

"NOT KILL!" Papyrus glares. "PAPYRUS NEVER MEANT TO KILL! PAPYRUS ONLY MEANT TO MAIM OR SERIOUSLY INJURE!"

"Quit quoting Harry Potter and get over here!" Undyne shouts, she turns to me. "Let's just say that most of the disabled parking spaces will be occupied."

"Or the prison cells," Frisk scoffs. "Come on."

We all leave the warehouse and get in the car. I sit in the boot next to Sans.


	48. Dorky Skeletons

"I mustard tell you," Sans winks. "I tried to catch some fog yesterday..."

"Sans," I warn him. "Don't even-"

"I _mist."_

"SANS!" I glare.

"Aw, you're cute when you're mad."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are," he winks and adds "you tsundere."

"Sadodere," I scowl accusingly.

"Dandere."

"Deredere."

"How am I a deredere?" He asks.

"You're not," I purse my lips. "I was just running out of deres."

"Papyrus is a deredere," he points out. "And Frisk."

"Mettaton is a bit of a sadodere and I can picture Alphys being a yandere."

"She's just a weeaboo," he points out. After a while, he asks "what type of dere do you think Wynn was?"

"He was a..." I ponder.

"A DARUDERE!" Alphys announces.

"Are you sure?" I ask. "He-"

"WELL THAT'S THE BEST I'VE GOT SO FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME WHEN YOU FIND SOMETHING BETTER!"

The rest of the car journey goes smoothly. Everyone else gets out and we wait for someone to open the boot.

"Hey Yael," I hear Sans say.

"Yeah-" I turn my head around just as he presses his face to mine and slips his tongue past my slightly parted lips.

I jump and my face heats up madly as he kisses me even more passionately than before. He takes his face away, a string of blue saliva connecting our mouths. I stare at him like a deer in the headlights and he laughs.

"Sorry, I'm just getting myself used to the fact that you're finally mine. Man, you're a blushing mess."

"And you're a lovesick puppy," Undyne says as she opens the boot. "Come on."

His face is even bluer than mine is red by the time we've exited the vehicle and I giggle. We make our way into the school and everyone else heads to Miss Uraganogukam's office to explain.

"Things will get better," he tells me as we walk to the dorms. "I promise."

"How do you know?" I ask sadly.

"Trust me," he tucks my hair behind my ear. "Trust me when I say that it will."

"I-" I stutter, then sigh. "I trust you."

"Great," he jokes. "Now I can kidnap sempai without many issues and keep her safe where no one else will ever find her."

"Right," I roll my eyes.

"Sorry," he chuckles. "I couldn't help myself."

"Dork," I grin.

"You're the dork."

"You're way dorkier."

"You're the dorkiest."

"Two dorks," I sigh.

"Chilling in a hot tub, five feet apart cuz-" he starts.

"ENOUGH WITH THE MEMES," I glare.

"Ok ok," he grins. "Calm down, you're madder than the duolingo owl when I've missed four Spanish lessons."

"OMIGOSH!"

"Ok," he grins. "No more memes."

"Memes are for dorks," I punch him playfully. "You dork."

"No u," he says.

I punch him again harder.

"Ow," he chuckles. "Alright."

He hugs me and we look out the big, circular window.

"Dystopian Prep is a hella weird school," I sigh after a while.

"But what suitably weird students it has," he indicates to me, flicking one of my ears.

"Hmph," I frown.

"That's one for the headlines," he announces dramatically. "_Dystopian Prep: the weird school full of weird students."_

"And dorky skeletons," I add.

"And dorky skeletons," he grins.

**-End-**

**Hullo. Thank u 4 reading my story, i am ver ver thankful. My story is also ver ver thankful. The tiny Sans in my head is ver ver thankful. **

***Tiny Sans does a tiny dance. **

***He says 'thank u.' **

**Bai. Now shoo. **


End file.
